New World
by Lluvia-the-Wolfgirl
Summary: A Mobius strip has only one surface.No matter which direction you're headed in, you're going to go somewhere you've gone before.Things may change, but they never disappear.The same is true for people.Even after a hundred years...
1. Prologue

New World: Prologue

"_What are you going to do now?"_

_He doesn't move, just continues staring out the window, hand on the glass, staring down at the planet that they died protecting._

_The one who spoke remains silent, just watching the watcher. He's not sure what to do. Thinking of a kind face with blue eyes, he wishes things, impossible things._

_They're far too alike now, when before, they were as different as night and day. At least in the kit's case, vengeance was needed. If he hadn't stopped them, those creatures would've sucked the life force out of the planet itself._

_But he still doesn't know what to do. Even though they are the same now, both alone, he doesn't know what to do. He wishes he did._

"_What are you going to do?" he asks again. _

_For the first time, he removes his hand from the window and turns to face him. "I'm-I'm going to protect this planet. Just like they did." His voice is quiet and husky, but firm._

_He smiles. "Good."_

_It has been a hundred years since then._

___________________

Sorry that this isn't a "new" chapter, but hopefully it was different enough to be interesting. This is the start of me revamping this story. Hopefully it will make more sense and be more interesting.

The germs of this story were planted with the help of my amazingly talented brother Inu-chan(gestures dramatically towards the website DA (or deviant art dot com) his username is Aeskhari, and he's got some really neat Sonic stuff as well as some original stuff too.) Thank you Inu, for showing me the various endings of Shadow the Hedgehog and for letting me see your art. And for not staring at me when I suddenly begin laughing like a crazy person.


	2. Chapter one: Summer day

It was kind of disconcerting, watching the planet get smaller and smaller the further away they got. But it was beautiful at the same time. Of course, Maria Roberts was one of those people who searched for beauty in everything.

"Enjoying the view?" asked a smug voice from behind her.

Maria twisted around, reminding herself at the last minute to smile. "Hi Richard."

"Got it in one!" he said laughing and then leaned in, a bit too close for Maria's liking. "I bet you've never seen a view like that before. Way better than anything you've seen down there, right?"

Maria frowned. "There's many beautiful sights on that planet." she said. The moment after it left her mouth, she mentally scolded herself. It was just that he kept getting so close and he wouldn't leave her alone-

And now he was looking at her like there was something wrong with her.

"Well, the first snowfall is always lovely, and then there's the sky and the air right after it rains. And it's nice to walk through the leaves after they fall. And then-" Maria continued. She'd forgotten about the implied challenge now, and was just enjoying thinking of all the pretty things she could.

"Okay, okay." Richard said, obviously irked.

Maria blinked. Was he trying to impress her? Before she could decide what to think about that, another man came down the aisle of the shuttle. "Hey you two, we're almost there."

"We're almost there? Almost at the Ark?" Richard asked, surprised. "That was quicker than I thought."

Space Colony Ark. Something deep in Maria twisted and stirred at the thought. She didn't know what this feeling was, or why it kept coming back. She just knew one thing.

_We're almost there._

_______________________________________________

Ethan Strong smiled in smug satisfaction and put his test down and flipped it over. Seeing the remaining time left, he allowed his mind to wander and glanced out the window. A freshman class was playing on the field outside, and his attention was caught by a familiar head of red hair moving around the track. As he watched her, his mind wandered.

He thought about the world of the past that they both loved learning about, and about how it was gone forever. And for just a moment, he contemplated wondrous adventures where he was the hero, before snorting and turning back to the classroom.

________________________________________________

Reese Hacker tapped his foot on the floor and glanced enviously at the people running around the track. He noticed one red haired girl running by herself. One part of him admired her grace and speed while another grumbled. There wasn't much he wouldn't have traded to be out there right now. It was the perfect weather to go running too! And here he was, stuck in science class with Mr. Roberts!

He sighed. Of course, it could be worse. Mr. Roberts wasn't a bad teacher. It was just that Reese really didn't like science.

He turned around to see Mr. Roberts looking at him sternly, and ducked his head, embarrassed. It wasn't that he dislike Mr. Roberts after all.

Reese just was tired of waiting.

_____________________________________

Amy Rosewood smiled as she rounded the track again. Maybe she was weird, but she liked running. Her friends always complained that she left them alone when they get onto the track, but she just laughed and apologized. For her, a track is a place for running. And she loved running.

_______________________________________

He liked to work in the dark. It was silly and reeked of cliché, but he didn't really care.

There aren't many things he really cared about. his work, and his sense of humor are two of these few. This two often combine. He won't work on something unless he finds it fun. Unfortunately for him, he's already examined many of the subjects that interested him.

Right then, sitting in the dark, he tried to come up with a list of things that interest him that he hasn't done anything with. He couldn't think of anything. He began to surf the web.

Ah, the internet. Such a fun thing. All the information you could ever want(and much that you don't) right at your fingertips. And if that weren't enough, you could discuss it with others, people who thought like you, sharing discoveries and theories.

Of course, you don't want to share too much. And you didn't want to share any information about yourself, especially your name. He'd stared at the screen for a while before his sense of humor had whispered a name in his ear.

It was _perfect._

It said everything he wanted to say, and it ensured that no one would take him seriously.

Suddenly, a phone rang. Eggman, as he liked to call himself, grumblesd as he picked it up. He already knew who it is. He still couldn't believe that that man was happy to teach a bunch of little hooligans the basics of science over and over again. He answered the phone.

A short while later he hung up, smiling. This…could be interesting. There wouldn't be much he could do, of course, but it would be interesting none the less.

_______________________________________________

_It's just a normal summer day for them. They have no idea how things are about to change._

________________________________________

Chapter one, take two! Oh, and look! It comes with extra scenes! Including the villain! (cue gasps) Yes, this story actually has a villain! (see why I had to rewrite this thing?)

Two things I probably should've mentioned last chapter. This story is a weird alternate version of the game 'verse(I know nothing about the comics) and I own nothing. (Duh, this is _fan_ fiction)

Hopefully this will make up for the extreme shortness of last chapter. It's still not that long, still setting things up, but things are starting to move, and you've met the cast. Well, pretty much met them, anyway. So, how am I doing this time? Is it better? Worse? About the same?


	3. Chapter two: Moving closer

_Dreaming again. Yes, he was dreaming again, his mind drifting backward through his memories. He always dreamed of the others now, it seemed. _

_He remembered that small rabbit girl, with her silly chao. He remembered those detectives, always chasing after cases. He remembered her, that pink hedgehog who always seemed to chasing someone. He remembered that bat who was, by turns, annoying and just a bit endearing. He remembered that echidna, stubborn and honorable to a fault. He remembers the kit, always trying as hard as he could. _

_He remembers the other. That blue hedgehog, the one who was almost like a broken reflection of himself. In the dream, he grinned at him before running far away. He waited. He knew he couldn't follow. And he also knew-_

"_Shadow."_

_He turned around. She was standing there, smiling at him, like always. She looked the same as she ever did. The dress colored by the softest blue, blond hair brushed back and held in place with her hair band. "Shadow-"_

And then he woke up.

He stayed still for a moment, staring at the picture.

When he'd first come back, first returned to this pace, he'd taped it to the window. Now, after all this time, he'd memorized every detail.

Especially her innocent smile.

He was tired of dreams, tired of seeing people he couldn't touch. All he did now was dream.

Shaking his head, he looked away from the picture and looked out the window itself. And froze.

There was a ship docked.

Someone had entered the Ark.

Shadow stared for a moment, wondering if this was another dream. But he'd never had a dream like this…

After a moment he stood up and walked over to the corner where he kept the box. He'd written "emeraldz" on the lid soon after he'd taped the picture of Maria to the window. Also on the lid was his gun. Nine mm, with its eight rounds.

He picked up the gun and opened the lid and looked down the chaos emeralds, thinking.

It was unlikely that these intruders were hostile. More than likely, they were just curious. But Shadow really didn't feel like letting strangers (who could be any type of people) poking through his home unsupervised.

One emerald should do it. He didn't want to fight them...perhaps scare them, just a little bit, and hurry them through their "business" and send them on their way.

He picked up the red emerald, checked his gun, and nodded in satisfaction. He was ready.

Time to go see what those people were up to.

___________________________________

He roused himself from something like sleep, something almost like a dream. That was the third time this decade…was he beginning to run out of power? Or was it just a side effect of being where he was, using the powers he did?

…maybe it was time to take a break?

It'd been a while since he'd been on Mobuis any way. Just a little visit…it wouldn't hurt any one. He'd just wander around a bit…see if anything interesting was happening.

__________________________________

The majority of people who had come to the Ark were technicians and people interested in the mechanical areas of science.

Maria, however, was a practicing doctor who had a few extra degrees in biology, and while Richard and another man called Jean worked with computers.

Which was why the three of them were the only ones in the room full of computers. Richard and Jean were trying to hack into the system while Maria looked around the room for something to do.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to do. Other than walk around and think. It was a pretty empty room. After the attack by G.U.N. they must've stripped the place bare. Probably the only reason that they'd left the computers was heaviness and the pain of trying to hack in...

Maria paused in her walk as she came across a dent in the wall.

It was a bullet hole.

Maria moved away. When locking at it, she could almost see it, the soldiers coming-and before that, the way this place must've been, once upon a time, with the scientists working and-

Maria shook her head and rubbed her arms. She needed something to do, something to keep her from thinking too much.

Something was off. This place didn't feel abandoned. Yes, it felt empty, but only the way in the way of when you're home alone, and waiting for the others to come back for/to you.

______________________________________

Reese smirked as he surveyed the track, ignoring the students behind him as they grumbled about how they wanted to play sports.

The day had remained nice. The cool wind tugged at his longish blond hair…

"You aren't going to start running before the teacher gets here again are you?" came a half serious question from the boy behind Reese.

Reese didn't feel like admitting that he'd actually done that(just once or twice mind you), so he just smirked wider. "Maybe." he said, and was about to turn to face his friend when a flash of color on the stands caught his eye.

There was someone up on the stands. It was kind of hard to tell from the distance they were at, but Reese could tell that they were kinda small, that they were blond, with shorter hair than his (own) and that they were wearing a blue hoodie. And they were looking at him.

What we they doing up there? And by themselves? Maybe they were sick, and sitting out of class? But generally those kids liked to sit on the grass. And this kid was sitting near the tops of the bleachers…and why did he keep looking at Reese? was he hiding?

A heavy hand landed on Reese's back. "Whatcha staring at Hacker?" the teacher asked, lowering his hand.

"Oh nothing." Reese said, pulling himself up. It wasn't really any of his business what the kid was doing up there, he didn't really want to get him in trouble.

But as they all began to run around the track, he couldn't help but glance back up to the stands.

The kid was gone.


	4. Chapter three: Meetings

New world chapter 3: Meetings

Out in space, his mind whirled.

_It couldn't be, could it? Stuff like that doesn't happen, right? But that boy was young…the same age as HE was when we first meet._

_The look on his face as he ran, that look of pure joy…it was just like his. The way he moves, the way he greets people…it's all the same._

_No! Stop thinking like that! It's not possible! This world doesn't work like that!_

_But…even after all this time, I'm still not sure how I work, how this power I obtained works._

_The boy was blonde. Humans don't have blue hair, so maybe…his eyes._

He bent over the world, searching eyes landing on a running figure.

_I'll know once I see his eyes._

_______________________________________

Reese jumped over a fallen trash can and hit the ground running. It was still a beautiful day and school was finally out! He had no homework, and the weekend stretched out in front of him like an empty track.

Reese slowed down(just a little bit) as he approached the corner he had to turn. It was a good thing he did because someone else was turning from around the same corner from the opposite way.

They both fell down with a thump.

Reese shook his head, before getting up and approaching the person on the ground. "Sorry about that, are you okay?"

The person froze in the middle of feeling their head. "Yeah, I guess so."

Reese blinked. Kinda a weird thing to say. But they sounded fine.

They were wearing a blue hoodie, and they were probably just a bit younger than Reese himself.

"Want a hand?"

The person tilted their head back, before pulling the hood down. He was a blonde boy, like Reese, and he stared up at him with a strange look on his face. "Your eyes are green." he said. "Emerald green."

"Uh yeah. Why?"

Suddenly, the look on his face shifted from that weird expression to one of determination. He reached for Reese's hand, and Reese pulled him up.

"Have we met before or something?" Reese asked. He did look kinda familiar, and it would explain why he kept staring at him.

The boy gave him a startled look, before beameing. "Yeah, we did." and he said it almost shyly. "but it was a long time ago, so it's okay if you don't remember me."

That would explain it. And yet…

"A long time ago we were good friends." the boy was saying "Is-is it okay if, once in a while-"

Reese nodded. "Sure, why not." he said, shrugging. In the back of his mind, a small voice known as caution was screaming that he was crazy, but he ignored it. Something about the kid's blue eyes and expression, especially the broad smile he was giving him now, made him trust the kid.

"Then, can we meet here tomorrow?"

"Well, there's no school tomorrow…sure."

"Alright!" he jumped into the air, a victory dance. "See you tomorrow Reese!" and he was gone in a streak of blue.

A streak of blue. Reese stared after him…he hadn't told him his name…

He shrugged, and started to walk the rest of the way home. There wasn't anything else to do anyway.

Reese grinned. A new old friend, who seemed just a little weird. _Well, this'll be interesting._

__________________________________________

Maria covered a yawn with her hand.

"Tired?"

Maria looked up from the computer and smiled. The two computer experts had finally gotten in to the system, giving Maria something to do. "Just a little. I'm going to stay up a bit longer so I can finish this."

Jean stretched and yawned theatrically. "Fine, if that's what you want to do. But me, I'm going to bed." He walked over to her and paused. "What are you working on, anyway?"

She scooted away to give him room and gestured towards the screen. "Come see!"

Jean scanned it and laughed. "A baby journal of Shadow the Hedgehog?"

She gave him a slightly impish grin. "There's pictures too." she told him, scrolling up and pointing. A baby hedgehog tightly hugging some blue plushy and staring curiously up at the camera.

Jean laughed again. "And with that pleasant image in my head, I'll go to sleep. Tell Richard when he gets back that I've gone to steal the top bunk. See you tomorrow, Maria."

"See you tomorrow Jean." she said, smiling, before turning back to the screen. And then she frowned.

Being alone with Richard was not a pleasant thought. He was hard enough to deal with when there were other people around, he might be impossible to deal with when they were alone.

Maria considered just leaving the room before Richard returned. But this was so interesting, and it would be rude to leave without letting him know what was going on.

The door opened.

_Well, I guess that solves that problem, _Maria thought, a little amused. And she turned around-and Richard was locking the door. He turned to smile at her.

Except it wasn't a real smile, or at least it wasn't like any other smile that she'd ever seen.

"Hey Maria. Jean's gone to bed?"

Maria couldn't think of a good answer to that question. "Richard, I'm not feeling that well, so I'm going to go lie down now.'

Richard snorted(rather like a big black-haired bull, Maria thought.) and moved towards her.

Maria suppressed the urge to back up and did her best to stand straight. "Richard, unlock the door. I'm going to go now."

He snorted again. "Sure you are. Do you know how long it'll take before we're left alone again?"

"I really don't care Richard!"

"Right, Goldilocks." and he moved to grab her.

Maria shrieked and tried to push him away, but he grabbed both her wrists. So she kicked him in the knee and used that to break away.

He grabbed for her again, but this time she dodged, all the while trying to think.

The door was locked-Jean was asleep-no one was going to come looking for her-she couldn't break the door down!-how-

Richard was about to grab her when "Chaos control!"

And Maria found herself on the other side of the room, a gloved hand wrapped tightly around her wrist.

She turned her head to the side, but saw no one. So she looked down.

Wild black and red spines, a gun in a gloved hand-

He was moving even as she was trying to think.

And the sound echoed through the room as the bullet entered Richard's knee. He grabbed at it, crying out and fell.

"Shadow the Hedgehog." whispered Maria, feeling dizzy.

He turned to look at her just for a moment before jerking his head around(almost like he couldn't bear to look at her) and began to point the gun towards Richard again.

Richard screamed.

"Don't!" Maria yelled.

Both males turned towards her, Shadow with a expression that clearly said "What are you, crazy?" and Richard with a whimper.

"We can tie him up." Maria offered. "and it won't be that long before the ship comes back anyway."

He looked at her, steadily, searchingly for a moment before sighing. "With what will you tie him up?"

Maria thought furiously for a moment. "In my first aid kit…I have some long bandages. We can use those."

Red eyes locked on her blue ones, before he shut them and sighed. "Alright. Do as you wish."

She stepped towards the door before remembering and looking over her shoulder at him. "It's locked."

He motioned her to move aside and when she did, he took a hold of the large red gem he was carrying. "Chaos spear!" Bursts of yellow energy hit the door, knocking it into the corridor.

Maria gave him one last look before heading out the door.

Absurdly enough, she didn't want to leave him. But the quicker she got the bandages, the sooner she could get back.

Back to him.

_____________________________________

(Rubs hands together) Heheheh…Shadow and Maria. ^^ But for some reason, this was a really hard chapter to write. It was that way last time too. Huh. Still not really happy with it, but I have the feeling I never will be, so(shrugs).

Anyway, only two chapters to go until we reach the chapters that I did back up! Less work for me yeah!

And because I forgot to mention it in earlier chapters, there's no actual romance in this fic. You can probably guess which couples I like, but there is no "getting together" or anything(although now I want to write a scene where Reese kisses Amy's hand for some reason…)


	5. Chapter 5

_He was running ahead of her, holding her hand and pulling her along. Her own panting breath, abnormally loud and hard, echoed through her ears. She couldn't hear him: he must be breathing normally, even though he was running much harder than her. Not for the first time, she found herself hating her pathetic weak body. If she were strong, she could run without him, and he wouldn't have to put himself in danger to stay with her. _

_She was finding harder to breathe now: she couldn't even hear the sound of her own footsteps, let alone those of the pursuers. _

_Now they came to a doorway. He turned into it, and as he did, their hands, both slippery with sweat, slipped out of each other. _

_Without his pull and support, she managed a few steps, then stopped, gasping for breath. Ahead of her, still going strong, he skidded to a stop, turning to face her, still waiting for her._

_The door banged open behind them, she jerked her head and there they were, looking monstrous with their covered faces, one pointing his gun straight at her._

_She couldn't run. She still couldn't breathe right. She just had time to turn to face him. _

_If she had been able to speak, she would have apologized before she hit the ground. _

Maria woke up.

She jerked upright, gasping and grabbing at her chest to make sure it was intact. Upon finding it was, she sighed, relived, even scolding herself a little._ Silly silly Maria. Just a dream, just-_

A gun cocked and her eyes, formally closed in relief, slammed open and she sprang up only to fall against the wall looking fearfully for the one with the gun.

It was Shadow, face a few shades lighter from fear. He too, was glancing around the room. Richard was on the floor a few feet away, still tied up with the shoelace knot. Jean was sleeping on the other side of the room, facing the wall and muttering something in his sleep. The room was empty other than them.

Shadow glanced around one more time, double checking, Maria guessed, then turned to her. "Bad dream?"

Maria flushed. "Did I scream?"

There was a slight movement at the corners of his mouth. "No. but you did cry out."

Maria sighed. "Sorry."

An eyebrow rose. "For what?"

"Startling you."

A shrug. "It's better if I remain awake anyway."

"You were asleep?" Maria was sorry she'd missed it, then scolded herself. No matter that he was a famous Anthro, he was an adult male, and had his pride and would not want to be seen as cute.

Both eyebrows rose now. "My body requires everything yours does. It just requires less, and only shuts down temporally instead of permanently if it doesn't get what it needs."

Mara flushed again. "Oh, of course. I'm sorry." There was silence for a moment. An awkward silence, but not a terrifying one.

After a moment, Shadow got up and walked over to the window, staring out it. Maria watched him curious.

When she was a kid, back on earth, growing up, she'd learned about Sonic and his friends. That had been in…third grade. Three grades later, she learned about Shadow. The general consensus was that he was a bad guy who had seen the light. She supposed it could be true. But she couldn't help feeling that there was more to his story. No one could do anything but guess as to what it could be, however. He had been so private…and it had been 100 years…records were lost or thrown away…rumors started and died, then rose again.

Maria stared at him, a vague black shape, framed by the window and outlined by the slowly rising sun. He looked…special. Magical. Almost…angelic.

Maria suddenly thought of the other Maria. How had she seen him?

Shadow turned, ever so slightly, facing her. Their eyes met, and she smiled. He didn't smile back. Not quite, anyway. But the corner of his mouth turned up, if only for half a second.

_The answer to that question is something I can't possible know, but somehow-_ she stood up and slowly walked over to where he was.-_somehow, I doubt she feared him. _

His eyes slid over to her, looking a bit surprised but not shocked. She smiled invitingly at him, but before he could respond, there came a loud grinding sound.

The ship was back.

--------------------------------------------

Reese knew he was dreaming the moment he opened his eyes and saw his ceiling replaced with outer space. He knew what it was of course, recognized from pictures, from various movies and his science textbook. But something about seeing the real thing was overwhelming. Even the sky, if you looked up at it, ended once it met the horizon. But this went on and on, further than his eyes could see and his dazed brain reminded him that it was expanding all the time.

He sat there, still in his bed, still with blankets tucked around him, staring. It was beautiful, and terrifying. Even more so when he remembered that he wasn't supposed to be able to breath in space, but had been doing so for a while now.

Reese took a deep breath, then grinned shakily. All in all this was kinda cool. How many other kids could say they've seen the cosmos while floating in their bed? It was a dream, after all. Might as well enjoy the ride.

_I hope no dumb space aliens show and try to blow my head off though. And if they do, I'd better get a light saber to defend myself! _

Just as he thought this, his bed jolted as a small gloved hand grabbed on to the post at the end of the bed. Another one followed, this one grasping the side of the bed. Then came a grunting sound, as the owner of the hands was trying to pull them self up.

Reese, after staring at them stupidly for a moment, and then did the smart thing. He kicked at the closest hand, causing their grip to weaken and making them cry out in pain.

Reese, about to kick again, paused. That voice had sounded…familiar. And really young.

He slowly bent over the edge of the bed, ready to pull back if was a space alien just trying to act cute.

It wasn't. it was a fox Anthro, hanging grimly on, looking up at him with scared blue eyes.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then, maybe it was the shock, but the fox boy's grip gave out.

Before he could think, Reese's arm moved of its own accord, reached down and grabbed him, then its mate joined it, and Reese, after a moment of struggling, pulled him up onto the bed.

Both boys just sat there for a moment, gulping down non existent air and trying to calm down.

Maybe it was because he wasn't the one who'd nearly dropped down intro the cosmos, maybe it was because he still thought it was all a dream, but Reese recovered first. As he waited for the fox to catch his breath, he studied him. He seemed ….small. Even for an Anthro. Reese wondered how old he was. Something about him, the size of his eyes, just the way his body was shaped, made Reese suspect he was just barely old enough to be left alone in the house, let alone left alone in space.

As he was thinking this, another thought had been niggling in his head, something about the fox's voice and his eyes…

The fox took one last deep breath then looked at Reese. And something clicked in the teen's head.

"You're Tails." He said, words going straight from his head to his mouth, bypassing his mouth completely.

The fox's mouth dropped open. He stared at Reese, who flinched slightly.

_Nice one Hacker! I don't know why, but that was obviously a sore spot!_

_How was I supposed to know that? _He protested, but the voice had no answer.

Reese looked at the fox. He didn't look hurt or anger, or traumatized.

Matter of fact, he looked…happy. Eagar. Scared, but eager. Like a kid on top of a roller coaster, about to go down the biggest hill.

"You know me?" he asked excitedly.

Reese nodded, and tried to come up with an answer to that, and the inevitable "how?"

A glance at those sparkling blue eyes, and Reese decided to spill the beans. "Well, you are in my history book you know."

The fox's ears dropped flat. "Oh." He said, sounding not only disappointed but sad. Reese wished he knew what answer the fox had been expecting to hear. If he had known, maybe he could soften it; make it a little bit easier. But then, Reese was not all that good with words. He was far more likely to make it worse than better, in fact.

"What does it say?"

Reese blinked at Tails.

"What does your history book say about me?"

"Oh. Well…it mentioned that you were friends with Sonic, of course." Reese began to wish that he'd paid more attention in history class. "And...Oh yeah! It mentioned that you were the last of Sonic's friends to disappear!"

The fox looked blank for a moment, then, all at the same time, realization flashed over his face, together with sadness. "Of course." He said quietly, and then said to Reese, "the message that everyone else was dead right? I remember now…I broadcast it on all the radio stations and TV channels."

Reese nodded, mentally punching himself. _Nice one Hacker! Of course that'd be a sore spot with him!_

For some reason, Reese felt protective of the little guy. When he talked, he tip toed, afraid of seeing tears in those blue eyes. Almost like guilt…

He looked over, sideways, at the little guy, and saw him smiling, still sad, but not despairing. He saw Reese look at him wonderingly, and he shook his head. "It's okay," he said before Reese could say anything, "it was a long time ago. And besides…" here he looked Reese straight in the eyes, and his expression changed, he looked older, almost, and wiser, and almost more mischievous. But at the same time, he looked more afraid. "I've found…"

Suddenly a strange beeping noise came, and both boys looked around. Reese looked twice, the noise sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it, wondering if it was a space ship from that one TV show his dad watched all the time when he was little.

"Funny…it almost sounds like my alarm clock." He said, turning to face Tails once again. He had time to see Tails look surprised, then sheepish.

And then he was staring at his ceiling once again, and his mom was calling his name.

"Reese! Time to wake up!"

He turned his head to the still closed door. "Yeah, I'm awake!"

Reese swung his legs over the side of his bed, and looked up. His mom had already left, bustling off onto the next chore. Must likely waking up my father, Reese thought wryly. He stood up and walked over to his dresser, and absent mindedly picked up a blue t-shirt and the nearest pair of jeans and began dressing.

The blue reminded him of Tails's eyes. Now that he was no longer in it, the dream was bothering him. He rarely remembered his dreams, and those he could remember only bits of, and they usually made no sense. True, he didn't understand why he'd been floating in space, still on his bed, or why Tails had wanted Reese to recognize him…he thought back to his expression when he'd mentioned the history books, and how sad he'd looked. He thought about him and all the different expressions he'd seen reflected in those blue eyes all the way to the kitchen.

He was standing on his toes reaching for the cereal when he realized that something about Tails's eyes was bothering him.

Reese had just gotten hold of the cereal box when he realized what it was: he'd seen them before. He dropped the box when he realized where. _On the boy with the blue hoodie._

After a minute, Reese remembered to pick up the box and walk over to the table.

_Come on Reese, you're imaging things. It's just a coindance. Or, your subconscious just decided to give Tails that kid's eyes for some weird deep reason. That's all. _

Reese didn't believe it. For some reason, he just couldn't. But as he sat down at the table, he told himself firmly to believe it, that there couldn't possible be any connection between his weird dream and the weird kid.

When his mother entered the room, he'd convinced himself enough to give her a smile and convince her that today was a normal day.

But the feeling remained, and would surface again and again throughout the day.

-------------------------------

"What?" Val asked, looking more surprised than hurt, "You're not going to walk with me?"

"Sorry," said Amy, "there's a question I have to ask Mrs. Smith."

Val pouted, then smiled. "Gotcha. See you later!"

"See you!" Amy waved and Val walked away.

Amy smiled and walked up to the teacher's desk.

Mrs. Smith, who had been reading through a book of baby names and humming quietly to herself, looked up and smiled. "Yes my dear?"

"Well…" Now that the time came to ask the question, Amy was kinda embarrassed. _Oh yes, it's perfectly logical to ask about the names of people you've forgotten. _"I'm interested in name meanings…" she began.

"And a very interesting topic they are too." Mrs. Smith cut in. "your own name means beloved. Did you know that?"

"No." Amy said, interested in spite of herself.

The door banged open, and Reese came, looking hurriedly behind him, and stopped when he looked forward and saw them.

"Is something wrong Reese?" Mrs. Smith asked, frowning.

Embarrassed, he shook his head. "No, I just wanted somewhere quiet to-you know, think. Do my homework. Stuff like that."

Mrs. Smith smiled and nodded and said something else, but Amy wasn't listening.

_It was him!_ She'd seen him on her first day. He'd been standing at the top of the stairs as she stepped on them for the first time. Even then, while occupied with all her freshman fears and excitement, she'd noticed. Actually, she thought it would be impossible not to notice. Soft blond hair, it hadn't been quite as long then, sparking green eyes. It had been love at first sight. Unfortunately, there had never been a good time for her to speak to him. He was in a higher grade than her, ad they had no classes together, not even lunch.

But now, he was here, and he was looking at her. Amy blushed as she realized for the first time that she didn't know his name. And she'd been so out of it, wrapped up in her own thoughts, that Mrs. Smith had been speaking and she only realized at the end.

"…and Reese here, his name means running." She was saying.

He nodded, slightly impatiently.

Amy smiled. "That's a cool name," she said, "Mrs. Smith says mine means beloved."

"That's nice."

_He doesn't sound too interested, _Amy thought disappointedly. _But then, he did say he wanted a quiet place to think. I guess it wouldn't be very nice of me to bug him right now. _

Amy resolved to leave him alone, and resigned herself to waiting for another opportunity like this one. But first, one question.

"Speaking of name meanings," she said, "do you know of any names that have to do with distance?"

Mrs. Smith looked puzzled and shook her head. Reese looked thoughtful for a moment. "Distance? You mean like yards, feet, miles?"

The second after he said it, it hit them.

Amy clapped her hands. "Of course! That's his name! Miles." She frowned then. "But…for some reason, it feels weird to think of calling him that."

"He probably doesn't like it." Reese said, shrugging. "I had a friend named that once, and he hated that name. He always used his nickname."

"Really? I think it's a pretty cool name." Amy said, and then shrugged. "I guess it's like having freckles. If you got them, you hate them. If you don't have them, you think they're cute."

Mrs. Smith sat there, musing. "Miles, eh? Not a bad name. Although if your last name sounded anything like "per hour" you might receive some teasing!" she laughed here, then checked her watch. "Whoops, time for me to be going. I have hall duty this hour after all. See you two later!"

She left then, leaving the two teens shaken.

Reese licked his lips, hoping that the two and two he'd just put together didn't actually make four. "Miles "tails" Prower." He whispered. "Why does that sound so…right?"

"Tails?" Amy asked, looking pale. "But…why would anyone use _that_ nickname? It's already taken, right?"

Reese's eyes were looking past her, she suddenly noticed with a pang, looking into space.

"What if…the name wasn't taken when he took it?" Reese asked, and then looked at her. Their eyes met, and Amy realized more than one thing. Just as she knew that boy in the blue hoodie, she knew this one too. And her heart jumped. They were connected, all of them. She knew it as he automatically turned and began to speak to her of his thoughts.

_He may not like me…but he does respect me. And so, I've got a chance._ Even all the strangeness couldn't bring her spirits down after she realized this. _Just you wait and see Reese. One day, I'll make you realizes that you're meant to be mine!_

_---------------------------_

_Ahh, Amy, I love you so. And Maria, and Tails, and Reese, and...well, everyone. _

_Sara, I'm playing with ways to keep the scenes seperate from each other._

_Tigerprime, thank you for the praise! And you're pretty much correct. And you will find out the answer to your question pretty soon. _


	6. Chapter 6

Ever since she could remember, and for some time before that, Amy had been obsessed with two things: running, and finding her true love. Her mother had always laughed when talking about it, saying she'd always been definite about what he was like, having already made up her mind. But Amy, looking back on it, had always thought that it was more like she already _knew_. Never once, during her childhood, had she ever changed her mind. She'd changed her mind about practically everything else, so why was he the exception? She had changed her favorite color at least six times and her favorite food at least twice that. So why, why had the image of her love always remained the same, always clear and vivid and unchanging. Why had she been describing Reese to her mother ten years before she had met him?

It was a sobering thought. Amy breathed out slowly, watching her breath turn to steam in the night air.

She'd been having that dream more and more often too. She'd been having it on and off for as long as she could remember, of course. But ever since she'd seen him, standing on those steps staring into the distance, breathing deeply, she began to have it at least once a mouth. Now, since that conversation, it was once a week, at the very least.

Amy shuddered as she replayed it in her head.

_Running running after that beloved back, always teasing, always appearing to vanish into the distance, and then reappearing still ahead of her, always tantalizing, never touchable. Still though, she kept chasing him, believing that, one day, she'd catch him, one day. _

_She keeps running, even though now, she's getting tired, she's getting angry. Why won't you stop? Why won't you stay with me? I'm not ugly, right? You don't hate me, right? She keeps running, if only to get to the end, to get to the end._

_And then, finally, she's fed up and she stops, and she screams at him. She stands there, panting, crying. He stands there, still, for once, unmoving. A soft, slight touch. Not on her cheek, but on her shoulder. She looks up. His face…she sees something there. Soft, unsure, hurt, scared, and guilty._

_And then, they're running again, only this time it's different, running for a reason. She's almost there, stop to breath, he stops to wait…and then…_

Amy shuddered and hugged her knees more tightly.

Why is this happening? Or maybe that's not the question.

What is happening? And what can I do? Last time…we were running, and he paused to wait for me. And then…that can't happen again... I won't let. I…this time, I must find something I can do, something that can help him.

But…what?

She sighed, releasing her breath into the cold night air, watching turn to steam. And then it came to her.

Amy smiled again fiercely, proudly.

_Just you wait and see Reese. This time, I'm going to save you! And then, one day, I'll make you realizes that you're meant to be mine!_

_----------------------------------------------- _

Shadow found himself tapping his foot. Irritated, he stopped. Absurdly, he found himself wishing that the speed obsessed hedgehog was here. If nothing else, Sonic was more familiar with normal people. For example…okay, forget that, Shadow thought, realizing how little he knew about his former ally.

He stepped pacing and tried to calm down. Just sitting there, thinking is very different than waiting. Waiting is expecting, knowing it is coming, always expecting it, each second waiting with your eyes open. Waiting is wanting it to come, either because you want it or want to get it over with.

He glanced at the door, and listened. Maria was talking now, quietly, clearly, but distorted through the door. He couldn't tell what she was saying, but her voice was as cheerfully as it had been before. Now an unfamiliar voice, a male voice, is raising in a question. Shadow paused, muscles tensed, fingers gripped, ready to spring.

Now Maria's voice again. She sighs, and then her footsteps, light tapping, coming closer.

For a moment, Shadow entertained, toyed with even, the idea of striking a pose, dramatically turning from the window to face them, letting the light and the shadows play eerily across his face, his body.

He stepped back as the door opens and lets the gun hang at his side.

First, out comes Maria, smiling at him. She looks worried. Her smile is a little bit strained, but the eyes are focused only on him, and gentle. She doesn't stop either, just keeps walking until she stands behind him.

After her come several other people, all in space suits. They stare and goggle at him, but he stares right back, unflinchingly.

_This world may be a new and strange one, but I don't care. Maria is behind me. _

----------------------------

Short chapter, but it's up. The rest of the chapters may take a while longer, but the next update should be soon.


	7. Chapter 7

Chap.7 (known as the chapter tails worked his way into every part of)

----------------------------------------------

Shadow quirked an eyebrow. "Why should I come with you?"

"Because you're the only witness to Richard's attempted rape."

"And Richard is who?"

Jean blinked. "The guy who tried to rape Maria? Remember? That was the first time I saw you. I came into the room, following Maria, and there you were standing over him, with that rifle."

_Oh. So that was that man's name. But what is rape? Note to self: look it up later._

"Maria witnessed it." He pointed out.

"Yes, but they're more likely to believe her if she had someone backing her up."

"So you want me to come to Mobius with you to prove to people that Maria is telling the truth?"

"Yes. Besides, don't you want to come to Mobius? After being up here for however long you've been up here, aren't you bored? Don't you want to go back?"

_I do. But I don't. _"I'm used to it up here." _I was "born" here, after all. I've lived here for all of my "childhood". Besides_… "You do know what I did on there, don't you?"

Jean winced.

_Thought so. Crimes like mine aren't exactly easily forgotten. Up here…it's different. I am the law, the controller. The protector. But down there…I am the destroyer. _

_No…it's best if I stay here._

Shadow looked up at Jean, speaking smoothly, quietly. "You don't need me. He admitted that he'd attempted to hurt her. You heard him, and you know what he's like."

Jean looked uncomfortable. "Well…that's true…but-"

"Goodbye." Shadow turned and began walking away. Behind him, Jean called out, but by that time, he was already in the next room.

Yes…it was best that he stay here. Sometimes, even when you're forgiven, you're not forgiven.

He wasn't needed. He wasn't wanted. They would all return tomorrow. Richard would be found guilty, and killed, or sent to prison; whatever they decided (Shadow was all for killing him. Leaving villains alive tended to result in more trouble then was worthwhile. Look at Dr. Eggman, and look at what happened to Sonic.) Jean and Maria would return to whatever they usually did, and Shadow himself…would continue watching the depths of space, sleeping and dreaming in an empty tomb.

For the first time, Shadow wondered what he was doing. What good was he doing, staying here all these years? These was the first time anyone had ever showed any interest in the Ark, and really, had they called ahead and asked if they had could come, he would've said yes, or at least, told them what they would've wanted to know. Admittedly, he still would've met them with rifle and emerald in hand, but still…

What had he done all these years? He'd been dreaming and sleeping, remembering the past and holding it tight.

But now, reality had shoved itself in front of him, blatant and unavoidable. He'd been waiting for a threat that never came, that was still not here, just waiting, doing no one any good.

What would happen if he did return …?

Shadow shook his head, disgusted at this whole line of thought. _This is where I belong._ But still, a part of him persisted. _You are alive. You don't belong in a tomb like this._

_Oh yeah? What about Tails? He's alive, but still- _

He was pacing angrily, staring at the floor. So absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't notice when Tails suddenly appeared in one of the chairs beneath the window.

The small fox watched him pace for a few moments, and then called softly, "Shadow?"

The way the black and red hedgehog spun around made the fox glad he didn't have his gun.

Once his eyes settled on Tails, however, he relaxed, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Tails shrugged shyly. "I need to talk to you." He said simply.

"About what?"

Tails swung his legs nervously. "It's…complicated." He said slowly, looking down at the floor. "But…the other day, I was looking down on earth, and I saw this human boy, about the age Sonic was…and he was running. You know that expression Sonic always had when he was running?"

"You mean the cocky I-can-do-anything-faster-and-better-than-you one?"

Tails smiled, a bit sheepish. "Yeah, that's the one. Well, this kid had the exact same expression."

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

Tails noticed and shook his head. "I thought I was imagining it at first too. But I kept watching him. I took on a human appearance and got face to face with him, talked with him. He has the same eyes, the same mannerisms…" he looked up and looked Shadow in the eyes. "I really believe it's him."

Sonic alive? And human? Shadow was tempted to laugh, but…that look on Tails's face. It was dead serious. Shadow had known, even before they were the only ones left, that Tails was smart. Afterwards, when they were the only two left, when Tails had come to him, the only one who could understand his pain, he'd been surprised by the kit's determination to live and keep safe the planet that his hero had died to protect.

But could he be right?

Shadow frowned and began pacing again.

"And it's not just Sonic either." Tails said, "I've also meet Knuckles and Amy."

Shadow looked at him, but kept pacing. _Same expressions, same interests, same personality, and same style of dress, same hair cut even…_he suddenly realized that he was no longer talking about Sonic.

He sighed and collapsed in a chair across from Tails.

He studied the fox absent mindedly as he tried to think of an explanation.

Tails was no longer swinging his legs quite as much, but he was still moving as the kit watched him. His hands rested on either side of him, his arms not long enough to reach the armrests, just as his legs hung in space, unable to reach the floor. In short, the chair was meant for an adult human, and Tails looked smaller than he actually was sitting in it.

Shadow briefly wondered how he looked sitting in his own chair but pushed the extremely unimportant thought aside. "Are you sure?" he asked the fox.

Tails nodded, without hesitation.

"What are you going to do?"

"Well…I want him to remember me…and Amy and Knuckles too. So what I've been trying to do is help him remember me. And I think it's working. The other day, he remembered my full name."

"You have a full name?" Shadow asked, eyebrow raised.

"Do you really think my parents named me Tails?" the fox asked, also with eyebrow raised. (A habit he must've picked up from Shadow.)

Shadow shrugged. "How would I know? I don't have any, remember?"

Tails looked embarrassed. "Right, sorry."

Shadow shrugged again, uncaring and the two Anthros sat in silence for a while.

And then the door opened.

In stepped Maria. She gave a small sort of half-yawn, which she covered up with her hand. "Sorry about that," she said to Shadow, smiling embarrassedly, "it's just that everyone had so many questions for me" and here she noticed Tails.

She turned slowly, and stared at him.

He looked back, but inched backwards a bit, looking like he was seriously considering vanishing back into space.

Shadow watched bemusedly as two people who knew him the best met for the first time. Maria was a little bit in awe, but eager. Tails looked nervous, and a bit wary. In retrospect, Shadow realized that the human Tails was most familiar with was Dr. Eggman._I guess it makes sense for him to be nervous…_ he noticed Tails looking at him with a pleading look on his face. He shook his head, smiling.

Tails looked back at Maria, looking a little bit less scared.

Maria stepped forward now, stopping in front of Tails's chair. "Hello little one." She spoke softly, doing her best not to scare him away.

Tails bristled just a little bit at that. "I am over a hundred years old you know." He said, doing his best to sound mature and grown up.

Shadow smirked. _Only if you judge age by years._

Maria laughed softly. "I'm sorry for not treating you with the respect one of your age deserves." She said and slowly offered him her hand. "My name is Maria Roberts."

Tails shot a quick look at Shadow, who was still smirking, then looked at Maria's hand. Then he smiled and took it, "My name is Miles Prower, but don't tell anyone. Please call me Tails."

"Call me Maria, and it's a deal." They smiled and shook on it.

Shadow smirked with approval. Those two would be good for each other. She'd always wanted to be a mother, and he'd been without one for as long as he could remember. _And what about you?_ He dismissed his inner voice as knowing nothing.

She turned to him now, eyes bright, laughing. "Shadow! Come over here! Let's all sit together!"

_This is how she was meant to be._ As he stood up, an armada of thoughts raced through his head. _This is how she was meant to be. This how my Maria was meant to be. If Sonic is alive, then…_

He sat down, next to Maria. Tails was chattering away, asking about something: her family, Shadow guessed. He suddenly realized how much and how little he knew about her. Mostly how little. He couldn't tell you anything about where she came from, or how she grew up.

There they were talking happily away.

Shadow felt a brief spurt of jealousy that faded into sadness.

Why didn't he know these things? Because he didn't know how to ask for them.

_This how she's meant to be…but it's not the way I am._

But before Shadow could analyze that thought, the door clicked open once again, this time allowing Jean to step in.

"Hey Maria, how-" he stopped in mid sentence and goggled at the scene before him.

_He may be a decent guy, but he doesn't deal well with surprise._ Shadow thought amusedly, and a bit annoyed. _What's he here for anyway? I hope he doesn't mention that stupid idea of me going to Mobius as a witness. I don't want to think about what Maria and Tails would think about that. They would probably…want me to go._ He eyed the kit, who was staring at Jean warily, but with out fear. He remembered back when Tails's loss was still new and raw, and they used to stare at Mobius together for hours. Tails had once asked him why he stayed with the Ark, why he had never returned to Mobius._"It's my home…it's where she died. Besides, there's nothing for me back there."_ He'd answered. Tails had nodded, and said nothing more. But now…

Shadow was abruptly jolted back to reality when Maria stood up.

She looked down at him, and smiled. "I'll be right back." She said, and left the room, quickly followed by Jean.

Shadow almost growled. That was playing dirty, getting her help.

"I like her." Tails said. "I'm not sure if I like him, but he seems okay."

"He's okay, but he's also incredible annoying." Shadow said flatly.

Tails turned and looked at him. He looked older now, wearing that new expression, the wise one he'd developed after watching Mobius for a century. He searched Shadow's face, and then asked "Why are you angry at him?"

Shadow briefly contemplated telling him it was none of his business, and then sighed.

"He wants me to go to Mobius with them."

As he had expected, Tails looked pleased, but just asked. "Why?"

Shadow resigned himself and explained the whole story.

When he finished, Tails nodded thoughtfully. "You should go."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I'm not going."

"Why? And don't tell me that this is your home and Maria died."

Shadow privately thought this was unfair, since it left nothing for him to say, but he just kept quiet and listened to Tails.

"The justice system-"

"The what?"

Tails sighed. "The way they decide if people being accused of crimes are really guilty or not. Anyway…I don't know much about it, but I know that witnesses are really important. If she doesn't have one, it could really hurt her case. And more importantly than that…" he paused, and then looked Shadow in the eyes. "I've seen your picture."

Shadow winced. Of course. He'd shown it to the kit when he'd first come up.

"She looks just like her, doesn't she?"

Shadow leaned over, putting his head in his hands. "…yes."

"Does she act like her too?"

"Yes."

"Do you think she-"

The door opened here, and Maria walked back in, frowning thoughtfully. She looked at Shadow, seeming nervous and excited at the same time. "Shadow," she said slowly, "I-"

Shadow looked Tails in the eyes for about five seconds before sighing and turning away, glaring at the window. "Fine, I'll come."

Maria stopped being suprised, and sighed with relief. Then she looked up and smiled. "I'm glad."

Her relief made him turn away embarrassed. _I'm getting her hopes up!_ "I'm going to come back up right after it's over though." He said, and then regretted the words as too harsh.

"Right after? Can't you stay a little bit longer than that?" Maria asked pleadingly.

Of course, Tails just had to join in. "Come on Shadow! If you're going to Mobius, there's some things I gotta show you! Please?"

Shadow glanced over his shoulder. The two were staring at him intently, pleadingly, like two kids who were being denied a trip to the candy store.

There was no way he could win, especially against those two eyes paired together. "Well…"their stares intensified, if anything. He turned away, trying not to let them see his weakness. "I suppose…I could stay… for a little while."

"Yay!" cried Maria and Tails together.

Shadow, relieved and amused, rolled his eyes and smiled at the window. They were bubbling, overflowing with plans.

"You don't have a place to stay…"

"I refuse to stay at a hotel." Shadow shuddered. He did not have good experiences with hotels.

Maria turned to Tails. "What about you? Where do you live?"

Tails looked embarrassed. "Well…let's just say he can't live with me."

Shadow smirked. "Tails has a rather…unique abode."

"Oh." Maria said, looked worried.

Tails looked at Shadow, then at Maria. "Why can't he stay with you?"

Maria thought about it, and then shook her head. "I'd like that, but…it'll look bad if you stay with me, seeing as we're both part of the trial."

_I was right_, Shadow thought disgustedly to himself, _it would have much simpler to just kill him. But then, perhaps, their laws concerning deaths are even more complicated. _ He sighed disgustedly. _But still it'd be better if I got into trouble than her. Except she's still be the cause of the trouble, so she'd still be in trouble. Bah! _"So where can I stay?"

Maria shrugged helplessly. "You can't stay with anyone I know for the sane reason."

Tails began to swing his feet again, staring into space and thinking. "Hm…"

"You don't know anyone else on Mobius, do you Tails?" Maria asked him, not asking a positive answer.

Instead, he stopped swinging his legs, and stared at her with a blank expression.

Shadow turned from the reflections of the window to stare at the kit. _What is he thinking about?_

Slowly Tails began to smile. And as he began to smile, Shadow began to understand. "Hey Shadow? Remember the guy I was telling you about earlier?"

"I can't stay with him!"

"Why not?" Tails asked, with a cute/hurt expression on his face.

Shadow tried to think of a reason. "I…he…we don't get along."

"You weren't that bad. Can't you get along with him for a couple of weeks? It's not like you'll be stuck together. He has parents that live there too!"

"There aren't very many options Shadow." Maria pointed out.

Shadow stared at both of them, trying to think. _I have to go…I can't disappoint them now. And I was just thinking that it'd be fun to see him again (and mess with his head). But living with him…? Well…_

"I guess I could try it." _Who knows? Maybe his parents will refuse._

Tails and Maria cheered again.

"I'd better go now!" Tails exclaimed jumping out of his seat.

"And do what?" Shadow asked.

"He's already pretty used to me, so now I'm going to get his parents used to me. Then we can get them used to you."

Shadow thought about it and nodded. Best get them used to one thing at a time.

Tails turned to Maria. "It was nice meeting you."

"It was nice meeting you too Tails."

He nodded and turned back to Shadow. "I'll see you both soon."

"Oh Tails! Tell me the next time you pay him a dream visit, okay?"

Tails looked surprised, then nodded. "I'll come get you soon." And then he vanished.

Maria stared at the empty spot.

"That last encounter with that last enemy changed him…in more ways than one." Shadow said quietly.

"I see…"Maria said slowly.

Shadow watched her for a moment, and then asked "Maria?"

"Yes?" even the way she turned around was the same.

"Come with me." He slid from his seat and walked to the door. He didn't look behind him: he didn't want to appear nervous, and he could hear her footsteps as she walked.

The journey was silent. Shadow didn't know how to ask any questions he might have, and Maria was quiet too. Only their footsteps sounded, and Shadow avoided any hallways that they might've run into anyone else in.

Finally, they reached it.

"This where I waited for whatever would happen next." He said without preamble.

She looked around as he continued to walk forward to the window. "Look at this." Carefully, he ripped the tape that bound it to the window.

She leaned over him. "A picture?"

He hesitated, and then handed it to her.

She took it gently, then gasped, shocked.

"It's the professor…and Maria."

"So…so I guessed." She said shakily, still staring at the picture.

Shadow watched her, wondering what to say, waiting for some sign.

Eventually, she knelt down and handed back to him. "…thank you for showing me." She whispered. "And for…everything else."

Shadow, embarrassed, shrugged. "She was…always concerned about the happiness of others. She made me promise…" here he sighed and shook his head. "I did a lousy job of keeping that promise."

"But you did keep it. I really think that she'd be…proud of you."

He looked at her, sadly smirking, not convinced. "Why?"

"Because you did keep it. You helped Sonic save the world, you helped me…you're really a good person."

He looked at her, surprised. He'd expected her to take his side…but he was surprised at the depth at which she believed in him.

She stood there now, head bowed…embarrassed.

_I got into this mess because I wanted to help you…maybe it's about time that I started believing you. After all…I suspect you would know better than me what Maria would be proud of. _ Shadow was struck by a couple of impulses. One was to go over and hug her. That he dismissed as being childish. Besides, he was only about knee height. The second was to walk over and take her hand.

He almost didn't do it.

But he did do it.

He stepped forward, clumsily almost, slowly. It seemed to take him forever, but he reached her.

Maria…Maria Robotnik had been only a child when she died. His hand and hers had been about the same size.

Maria Roberts was a grown woman, though still a young one. Her hand was bigger than his.

While marveling at this strangeness, he wrapped what he could of her hand in his two.

"Thank you for believing." Shadow said simply.

------------------------------------

_He_ stared down the tunnel, breath echoing in _his_ ears. _It's okay…it's just a dream…a dream you've had before; again and again…you know what's going to happen. _

But that didn't help, really. Ears flat against _his_ head, _his_ breath abnormally loud in _his_ ears, senses strained to the max, _he_ looked slowly around.

_Where are they? They're supposed to be here…why am I alone?_

_He_ stared down at _his_ gloved hand. _Wasn't I…holding…? _

And then it came. The noise.

Hearing more of it had not decreased _his_ fear of it.

_He_ ran; _he_ knew it wouldn't do any good. Hadn't _he_ been here before, again and again?

Behind _him_, the sound, like a humming of a huge swarm of bees…increasing. _He_ kept running, putting all the strength _he_ possessed into _his_ legs.

_He_ hated it: _he_ wanted to fight, to do something. But _he_ couldn't. _He'd_ tried. At least every other dream. But each time, _he'd_ died before he could reach it, seemingly without reason.

So _he_ ran, and kept running, further and further into the cave, and the sound kept getting louder and louder, and closer and closer.

_He_ knew that soon it would catch up. It always happened, it caught _him_, and _he_ would crash and fall, and die.

It always happened…hopelessness dragged at _his_ feet…

And then it happened.

The dream changed.

The humming was still getting louder, but now there was another sound, also getting louder…a roar… like that of-

And suddenly, the lights came, bright and glaring, and there, dimly silhouetted were two Anthros, both holding out their hands.

It always happened…_heh! Forget that! I'll decide what happens from here on out! I can't do anything alone…but I'm not alone!_

And _he_ jumped for them and grabbed onto their hands and let them swing _him_ onto the motorcycle's side cart.

"Go Shadow go!" yelled the figure in the back, and_he_ recognized the voice of Tails.

Without saying anything, the figure in front gripped the handlebars tighter and off they shot, into light far brighter than the headlights, that after the cave's darkness, made _him_ wince and cover his eyes…

When they recovered enough for _him_ to lower his hand, they had stopped, and were on the edge of a green cliff, looking down at a city beneath them.

Tails heaved a sigh of relief. "That was close." He said tiredly, with very little energy, and then turned to _him._ "Are you okay?"

"Who, me? Yeah, I'm fine. It was a really close call though." A brief struggle with pride, and then he added, "Thanks. I'd have been a goner without you guys."

Throughout this conversation, the black hedgehog watched with a storm of emotions on his face. He looked like he didn't know whether to be happy or sad, surprised or knowing. _He_ didn't know what to make of it.

The fox's expressions were easier to read. When _he_ thanked him, he was surprised at first, but it quickly turned to happiness.

"I'm just glad we came in time." He said, smiling.

Shadow turned around quickly, and said "Same here." Before _he_ or Tails could say anything, he restarted the motorcycle and added "Hold on."

He took off, spun around, entire front end in the air, and then falling with a bump as it hit the ground, heading down and towards the town.

As they entered the town, Shadow slowed down enough that_he _felt it was safe enough to open his mouth and ask "How did you convince them to give you a license?"

"I don't have a license."

"You don't need to sound so smug about it." _He_muttered.

"You shouldn't say it so loudly either." Tails advised, looking around.

Shadow snorted.

"Do you think no one will dare touch you because you're Shadow the ultimate life form?" _he_ asked, suppressing the urge to chuckle. Something about Shadow…his attitude, his cockiness irritated and at the same time endeared him to _him._

"Maybe." The black hedgehog said laconically, with an odd tone in his voice.

_He_ stat up straight to get a better look at Shadow's face. Was he…smiling? Before he had chance to better evaluate this phenomenon, Tails called out "Hey Shadow! Let's stop here!"

"Here" turned out to be a restaurant that was run down to the point that it would have looked disputable except for the fact that it was clean and freshly painted.

_He _frowned_. Haven't I …been here before?_

Shadow frowned too, but for a different reason. "Here?" he asked suspicion in his voice.

Tails nodded. "They don't have a lot of money, but all their stuff is made by the family and it tastes really delicious."

Shadow raised his eyebrow, but looked again at the place.

"C'mon Shadow." _He _said, grinning, "Tails is right, the food here is way past cool. Besides." He smirked here, "is the ultamite lifeform afraid of a wayside restaurant?"

Shadow rolled his eyes but parked the bike.

The three Mobians walked in, and were greeted by a young woman. She looked at Tails and _him_ first. "Well hello you two! We haven't seen you in some time. Been running around busily like always?"

For a moment _he_ remembered the cave and the humming, and felt absolute fear. But then_he_ remembered that she was watching him, and that Tails and Shadow were behind him. So _he_ stood up straight, grinned a cocky grin, and said "Yeah, you could say that."

She nodded, smiling, clearly expecting no other answer, and then peered behind them at Shadow. "Who's he?"

"He's just a sulky emo hedgehog who's also our friend and ally." _he_ said straight faced.

Tails giggled.

Shadow rolled his eyes.

The girl laughed and asked "Do you want your regular order?"

"Yes please." _He_ and Tails said, even though _he_ couldn't remember what his regular order was, he vaguely remembered it as delicious.

"And what'll you have?" she asked Shadow, handing him a menu.

He skimmed, occasionally raising his eyebrow at some item or another, before sighing and handing the menu back, saying "I'll have a chili dog and some fries."

_He_ was smirking as they all took their orders and sat down.

Shadow sighed again as he realized that he had ordered the exact same thing as _him_. Tails had a chili dog and onion rings. Once they sat down, they tore into their food. There was no hope for conversation while this lasted.

Soon though, they all finished eating and sat back. Their conversation had stalled. No one knew what to say.

"Does any one want any ice cream?" Tails asked finally.

"Sure." _He_ answered, trying to remember which flavors they served. "I'll have …that mint chocolate chip one you love so much." Tails's response surprised _him_. He looked at _him_ and gave _him_ the biggest smile he'd seen all day.

"I'll try some." Shadow called after him, "same flavor." Tails stopped, nodded, and then continued walking. His hands darted up to his face every now and then though, as if they were wiping something away.

_He_ was staring after him, wondering what it was in his words or actions that had made him so emotional, when Shadow spoke up.

"It's because he's so glad that you have not forgotten him."

_He_ looked at shadow, then slouched in _his_ chair and sighed. "But…I've forgotten a lot of things about him." When _he _raised his eyes Shadow was looking at _him_ oddly comfortingly.

"He understands and he more than forgives you." They both glanced over at Tails, who was currently ordering the ice cream and laughing with the waitress. When _he_ looked back at Shadow, his smile was halfway…"he's very ….open, you know trusting. Trusting. Naïve. Still just a kit, really. Even sleeps like one."

In _his _head formed a vision of a blurry memory of _him_ and Tails sleeping side by side, and _him_ wakening up to find that Tails had begun to use _his_ leg as a stuffed animal to squeeze when he felt afraid during the night. _He _smiled.

"I've got the ice cream!" Tails called as he walked over. His eyes were a little bit red, but he smile was so full of happiness he might've been able to light up a parking lot in the middle of the night.

"All right!" _he _exclaimed reaching out to get his. Shadow copied _him_, and both took the slightly smaller ones so as to live the biggest for Tails.

He didn't appear to notice, which made both of them glad (no notice, no scene).

They all bit into their ice cream, enjoying the coldness and the taste.

"Yum." Tails sighed as he enjoyed his.

"Good choice Tails." Shadow said softly, and the kit beamed like he'd been handed a prize.

_He _wanted to say something, but couldn't. Something odd was happening. Or, more like, he was starting to realize how everything that had happening was odd. How could he forget Tails when they'd just met in that other dream of his?

Dream…

Dream?

He just had time to put his ice cream down on the table before he woke up to his mother shaking him.

"Reese Hacker, what's with you?" she rambled on for a while, while he, disoriented, just mumbled and nodded his head.

When she left the room, he stayed in bed a moment before getting up and stumbling to the bathroom.

Reese stared at himself in the mirror. At first glance, he looked the same. A little more tired, perhaps, but…wait…was that bang…turning blue?

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

_Okay Reese, calm down. It's just because you've been reseaching Tails and his friends way too much. Yeah…and watching the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog that late with Dad last night couldn't have helped…_

He sighed and shook his head, opening his eyes and smiling at himself, half amused and embarrassed with himself. _ Get it together Reese! Today's a school day! You have stuff to do, people to see! It'd look real impressive if you fell apart in the middle of the school day. _He took a deep breath. _You've just had a bunch of weird dreams. But now you're awake. Time to get moving. Everything's back to normal now._ He looked at the mirror one last time, about to leave, when the mirror reflected the window behind him, a flash of black and red that slowed down enough to reveal a familiar cocky smirking black and red hedgehog. Their eyes met. And once again, they had that odd understanding.

_You're confused, and I both enjoy and understand your confusion. It's fun to watch you wonder, but I know you'll find your way._

_You always do._

And then he vanished.

Reese griped the sides of the sink. _What- what was- I'm awake right? Not dreaming? It doesn't feel like a dream. So why…how…?_

"Hey Reese!"

The sound of his father's voice made him jump. "You done in there yet?"

"Uh…yeah. Sure." He left the room almost as dazed as when he entered it. He wandered into the kitchen, mechanically eat the pear and piece of toast his mother offered and stared out the window.

_I'm going insane. But…_

"Reese! Time for you to leave!"

He nodded absentmindly, grabbed his backpack, and opened the door.

Across the sidewalk lay a familiar hedgehog shadow. Reese watched dumbly as it made a gesture, Reese wasn't sure which one, whether it was a taunt or a beckoning.

_What if I'm not going insane?_ He thought back to his dreams. _They're consistent. They're logical…in an insane way. And the way Tails smiles at me…the way Shadow looks at me. I…don't want to let them down…_

Standing still, he hadn't moved yet. Staring straight ahead, absorbed in thought, he almost didn't notice the brief appearance of Tails's head above his mother's beloved bushes.

But he did notice, and his head snapped up, noticing both the fox's worried expression and the way he started when he realized that Reese had noticed him.

Tails disappeared beneath the bushes, and Reese came to a decision.

He strode down the path to the sidewalk.

When he drew level to the spot where Tails had been, he stopped and spoke out loud. "I'm not afraid…just a little concerned for my sanity. But I'm alright now. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

Reese stood there a moment, but there was no response. That was okay. He didn't really expect one.

He adjusted the straps of his backpack, grinned and took off running down the sidewalk.

------------------------------

Shadow was still grinning when, hours later, he and Maria boarded the shuttle. _I've never seen him befuddled like that._

Maria meanwhile, was replaying in her head the conversation she and Shadow had had earlier along with one she'd mostly listened to before.

"_Hey, didn't old Robotnik have a grandkid?" _

"_So he did! In fact…guess what her name was... Once upon a time…Gerald Robotnik had a lovely granddaughter… She was sick, so he took her to the safest place for her. Someplace that would, by its very nature protect her. No germs, no one to hurt her by accident…She was killed."_

"_What was the kid's name?"_

"_Since you insist on not listening, it was…Maria."_

_So I have the same name as her, and to judge by his picture, the same face…when we first meet, he didn't ask any questions, just leapt to my defense…I'm the only one, other than Tails, who he likes. He seems to accept Jean, and the other people, but I'm the only one he seeks out and the only one he talks to._

_Maybe I just remind him of her…but…_

"Maria?" the quiet question made her jump.

"Yes, Shadow?"

"Are you okay?" he looked up at her, quiet, as always, earnest eyes gazing up at her.

She smiled, for him, and touched his gloved hand lightly. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a little bit worried."

He nodded seriously, and then touched her hand. "Don't worry, it will be okay." _Because I'll kill anyone who threatens you, _he mentally added.

Unaware of his mental addition, she nodded and smiled. "And once the trial is over, I can introduce to everyone!"

That didn't scare him, even though it really should have. Instead, he just kept smiling, nodded again, and sat back to enjoy the ride.

-----------------

Ahhh, Shadow, I love you. You're so violent and protective and your relationship with Reese is so...squee!

Chap.8 should be up pretty soon. Just need to fix it up a bit, try to add a explanation for a few things and a scene with Ethan.

Remember, reviews are very much welcome!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Subtitled: the chapter of Reese (since tails had his own, pretty much)

-----------------------------

The school bell rang and kids flowed out of the building like water out of a dripping sponge. Reese dodged a tall red haired kid and exchanged mutual glares with him before they both went on their ways.

Despite his bold words earlier, Reese still had no idea what was going on. All he knew was that he had to find out on his own. They weren't going to tell him, he had to find out himself. Or just remember. He smirked to himself, amused by the simple idea. But then the amusement faded as he considered how unlikely it was. He seemed to be in over his head, a simple going through his memories couldn't solve it.

**So what is going on? I mean…first, I see some freshman on the stands while I'm running, then I run into him on the way home, then I have a dream about floating in space with Tails, then I meet a girl who seems to know him too, then, I have the dream from last night, which I've actually had before, except for the ending, and then, this morning… I saw them.**

**And the really odd thing is, I have this feeling I really shouldn't be freaked out about all this. And in a way, I'm not. I mean…I'm not afraid of them. But I'm still afraid I'm going crazy.**

Reese stopped and sighed. And then he looked around.

**And…I'm now lost. Perfect. **He groaned. **Like my life wasn't bad enough already. This'll teach me to walk and think at the same time! **

"Reese? Is that you?"

The voice called up mixed emotions in him. One part was happy(Alright! Someone I know and can trust!) While another part was groaning (No! not her! She's such a pain in the neck!), while the last, and quietest, but not smallest, part said silently, to her, not him "I missed you."

Reese himself, confused by all these inner messages, just turned around and said. "Yeah?"

"I knew it was you!" the girl said, smiling. She stepped closer, brushing a light red bang that hadn't been stopped by the headband out of her face. "You remember me, right?" her eyes searched his face hopefully.

Partially amused by her transparency, partially annoyed, he said "Yeah, I remember you. Amy, right?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. He wasn't sure whether she was telling him he was right, or rejoicing in the fact that he did remember her. Then she calmed down a bit and looked up at him curiously. "So, what are you doing here? I mean, not that I mind or anything- it's just that I've never seen you here before, and I come here a lot."

"Oh." Reese shrugged, embarrassed. "To tell the truth, I kinda got lost."

"Where you trying to get to?" Amy asked logically.

"Home." Reese answered automatically, then winced at the laughter he was sure that unexpected answer would bring.

But he had underestimated Amy. She blinked and looked at him for a moment, then asked "How did that happen?"

Reese shrugged again. "I just wasn't paying attention, I guess."

Amy nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

He shrugged again, and they both remained silent for a while.

Finally, Amy broke the silence. "Well, you know-if you'd like- I could show you where the school is!"

Reese stared, wondering what she meant, when it sunk in. Of course. From the school, he could easily find his own way home. "Good idea," he said slowly, then smiled. "Thanks Amy."

Cheeks flushed a bit, she shook her head and smiled. "It's no problem. Come on, follow me!" she reached out, as if to take his hand, but at the last minute, thought better of it and turned into a beckoning gesture.

They walked for a while in silence, and then Reese asked "Have you seen him again yet?"

She didn't need to ask who he meant: she knew. They only had one mutual friend, after all. "Not yet." She said sounding disappointed, "have you?"

He was quiet for a moment, then answered "I think so."

When she looked at him, he was staring at the ground(so that's how he got lost), frowning at it. Ignoring her, trying to figure it out himself. Her heart tightened. "You think so?" she asked, trying to sound light hearted "What does that mean?"

"It means I have no idea what is going on any more." Reese said, and kicked at a rock, sending it flying into the street.

Amy watched him, silently, then , finding the courage, asked, "Can you talk about it?"

He looked at her, and she quickly explained, "Well, you know, neither of us knows what's going on, really, and you know things that I don't know, and I know things that you don't know, so wouldn't be a good idea if we exchanged notes?"

Reese stared at her a moment, then laughed, somewhat harshly at himself.

"Reese?" Amy asked, sounding worried.

"Don't worry. I'm not going insane, I'm just questioning my sanity. I think my logic has been permentaly messed up."

"That's not very reassuring." Amy said with a touch of wryness.

He looked at her. She sighed, smiled nervously at him, then took his hand and pulled him over to the park bench. "Sit." She said, "Talk. I promise I'll listen."

Reese stared at her, and for the briefest second gave her a flicker of a smile, before turning serious again and beginning "When I first saw him, I was at school, about a week ago…"

When he finished, Amy was sitting there. Not frowning, but gazing seriously at him. "You're right," she said eventually "that is a pretty crazy sounding story."

"I'm surprised you say "sounding". Most people would say it was just plain crazy."

"Probably." Amy agreed, not put off in the slightest, "but I know you, and you're not insane."

"And how do you know that?" Reese asked, halfway teasing and half way curious.

"Because I know you." She said directly, looking into his eyes, forgetting to be nervous. "And you're not crazy."

Reese had to look away. The girl's gaze was so intense…that someone had this much trust in him was a sobering thought. "Um…thanks." He muttered, "So…what did he say to you?"

"Well," she looked into the distance trying to remember. Reese felt it was safe to look up and look at her. "The first thing he said was "are you Amy Rose?" and I thought he looked familiar, so I asked him what his name was, because I couldn't remember it. He got really happy when I told him he was familiar, just like with you. After he told me that his first name had to do with distance, he vanished. The day after that…well, you were there."

Reese nodded, despondent. It seemed like she didn't know anything new after all. But she was still talking, so he continued to listen.

"This may not have anything to do with whatever's going on, but…there's this one dream I have…I've been having it ever since I can remember, and I've been having it a lot more often recently. And I can't help but feel it's important."

"What's it about?" Reese asked, more curious than anything else.

"Well… in the dream, there's this guy, and he loves to run. But he's so fast, I can't keep up. And I chase him for a long time, and finally he slows down, just a little, because he sees that I'm falling behind. But then…something gets him. And it's my fault, because he stopped for me."

Listening closely, Reese thought he head something in her voice. "You don't think it's just a dream, do you?"

She looked up, shocked then smiled. "No. I believe he's real. That's why I come to the park and run a lot. I'm always hoping I'll see him here, for one thing. And even if I don't see him here, just the fact that I'm enjoying his favorite activity makes me feel close to him. But most importantly, I'm trying to get faster."

"Why?"

"So I can keep up with him this time. I don't want to drag him down, slow him up. But I don't want to be left behind anymore either." She lifted her chin, a proud determined look in her eyes. She looked at him, squarely in the eyes, and he couldn't help but respect her. Even though she found herself in an crazy situation, she still moved on, accepting it and taking it in stride. And when she looked back on her past and saw things she regretted, things she'd messed up on, she still moved on, just planning how to make things better. While Reese's logical part of the mind struggled to join this notion of Amy to its owner, his mouth formed a question. "What if you never find him?"

She looked up at him, almost shyly, and smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem." She said.

"Why not?"

She shook her head, not quite as shy, looking like she wanted to laugh. "Just a feeling I have."

And as she smiled and looked at him, pieces connected in his head. She really cared about this guy, that secretive smile…almost like she'd already found him…and the fact that she obviously cared about Reese himself.

Reese opened his mouth to ask her, but thought better and shut it. Did he really want to know? No. but Amy was…for her sake. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he didn't want to lie to her either.

"So Reese…what do you think is going on?"

He sighed, ran his hand through his hair and stood up. "Let's keep walking." He said. "I think better when I'm moving."

He didn't want to say it, but he was beginning to develop a theory. But it was just ...Reese thought for a moment, trying to capture a word that fully expressed the impossible-ness of the situation…he thought suddenly of a word he'd heard one of the teachers using earlier that day. "Absurd." He said out loud.

"What?" Amy asked from beside him.

"It's what this situation is." Reese said shortly, then, after a minute of traveling in silence, "What do you know about…Sonic the Hedgehog?"

She jerked her head up to stare at him, but he was studiously staring at the ground.

There was another moment of silence as they walked along. "We turn here," Amy announced, and then, after they turned the corner, she said, "I know a lot, actually. You know that old cartoon that everyone watched when we were little kids? The one based on him?" Reese nodded. "Well, ever since I saw that cartoon, I've been…while, I guess you could say a little bit obsessed with him and finding out everything I can about him." She blushed here, and looked away, fixing her eyes straight ahead, occasionally glancing at the blue sky. "Of course, I soon found out that almost everything in that cartoon was made up." She chuckled ruefully. "But I still thought he was amazing. Even more so, I guess, than before."

"Why?" Reese asked.

"Oh, a bunch of reasons. He was smart, he was kind, and he was willing to forgive people." Amy gave Reese a mischievous grin. "And, to be honest, the whole mysterious quality is fascinating."

Reese raised an eyebrow. "You're interested in the guy because he never stayed long enough to answer any questions?"

Amy shrugged, blushing. "Well, like I said, it's not the only reason. But anyway, what is it that you want to know?"

Reese shrugged, and kept walking. What to ask? Where to start? _Begin at the beginning._ "Just give me the text book summery of his life." He asked.

"Okay." Amy said, a faint bit of confusion in her voice. "We don't know when he was born, or what his real name is.

He first appears in the Green Hill area when Dr. Robotnik first tried to take over. Some estimated his age at the time to be about ten. Sonic won, of course." Here her voice a mix of matter of fact and proud. "And of course it was only the first of many encounters, because Robotnik was too stupid to learn from his mistakes."

Reese chuckled in spite of himself. "Is that what the history books say?"

Amy looked at him now, smiling. "Not exactly."

Reese showed his approval with a grin and then asked "What happened next?"

"Well, a couple years later, Robotnik returned, and Sonic fought him off again, this time with the help of a young fox."

"Tails." Reese said softly.

Amy nodded, and then said, "You know, even their personalities seem the same. The Tailses, I mean."

"But…why …or how…could we know a hero was running around with Sonic the Hedgehog a hundred years before we were born?" Reese asked, adjusting his grip on his book bag. His grip was getting sweaty. He thought he might know the answer, but he was afraid. Amy, for whatever reason, liked him, and even though he didn't want her as a girl friend, she was a neat person and he wanted her to continue liking him.

Amy shook her head in frustration. "I wish I knew!" she said, "It's driving me crazy! The only explanation I can come up is time travel, but I don't think that's it, because it doesn't explain how we recognize _him_!" she sighed. "I can't come up with any theory that even approaches a decent explanation." Amy kept walking for a moment, and then realized something. She stopped and turned around.

Reese had stopped and was staring at the ground.

Worried, Amy stepped closer, slowly. "Reese?" she asked quietly, hand outstretched just a bit.

"I …I think I might know." He said without looking up.

"What? Really?" asked Amy, so startled that she that she stopped her hand, and then shooting it a rueful glance, retracted her hand. "What do you think is going on?"

He continued looking at the ground, then, slowly looked up at her. He drew a deep breath. "Please…just listen. Even though it's crazy."

"Well, of course I'll listen to you!" she smiled, confused but steady, "And besides! The whole situation is crazy."

He smiled, a bit grimly. "Yeah, but...it's even more insane. You know…there's this old religion…I can't remember what it was called but it was really big on parts of Earth. And they believed that after you died, you would-"

"Reese Hacker!"

Reese jumped and looked across the street. A very familiar green car was across the street, and his mother was inside it and waving to him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I—I"

"Never mind, just get in the car!"

"But I-"

"Now Reese!" she commanded, not even looking at him.

Reese sighed and rolled his eyes as he turned to Amy. "Okay Amy, we'll talk later."

"Reese!" cars honking followed this call.

"I'll meet you after school on Monday, okay? By the stairs."

"I'll be there." She promised.

"Good." Reese smiled, gave her a thumbs up, and then ran to his mom's car. "See you!"

Amy waved. As he got in and the car drove off, she felt a little bit deserted, even though she knew it was silly. _Maybe it's just that I'm tired of watching him run away from me. After all, I've been watching him do it in my dreams for years now. _

In spite of that, Amy smiled as she walked away. _He promised to meet me. What shall I wear?_

_-------------------------------------------- _

"What were you thinking?"

"Mom, I got lost!" Reese protested, "It's not like I planned it or anything. I just lost track of what I was doing and got myself lost okay? It won't happen again, you can stop fussing over it now."

His mother sighed. "I'm sorry Reese. But…it's just that this is such a dangerous world!"

"It's such a stupid world." Reese grumbled.

His mother sighed. "Sometimes I think that too. But it doesn't really matter. This is the world that we live in, and so, we have to deal with it."

_What kind of thinking is that?_ Reese thought rebelliously. _If the world is wrong, shouldn't you oppose it, not go along with it?_

He thought about that for a while, as his mother drove along.

"By the way, Reese, who was that girl?" his mother's voice sounded way too casual.

"I'm not going to get a girlfriend anytime soon, Mom. She's just a girl from school. I might become good friends with her, but I don't think I'll end up dating her."

His mother sighed in disappointment.

"Just because you met Dad in high school, doesn't mean I'll met my future wife in high school." Reese pointed out for the tenth time.

"I know that Reese." His mother said, rolling her eyes. And then she turned around and smiled at him. "But wouldn't it be fun if you did?"

Reese grinned. "I guess."

Gravel made a crackling noise as they drove into the driveway. His mother parked the car, and got out.

Without being asked, Reese grabbed a couple grocery bags and stared to carry them inside.

"Reese!" his mother exclaimed happily, smiling.

Reese shrugged, uncomfortable with the attention, and continued walking inside. By the time Mrs. Hacker had made her way inside with her own grocery bags, he had put away most of his. He lingered over the last object (a box of cereal); waiting to delay the question he had to ask. With a sigh, he put the box down, saying as he did so, "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" she responded, not looking at him, as she continued putting stuff away.

"One of the teachers was talking about this weird thing today," Reese lied, "it was some weird religion from Earth…I think he called it Hinduism?"

Mrs. Hacker put the last item away and stood back, then turned to face Reese. "Hm…yeas, I remember it from my History of Earth class! What about it?"

"I was just wondering, you know?...did they really believe that people would be reborn after they died?"

"Oh yes." She nodded. "Not always as people though. They believed that you could be reborn as anything, even a bug!"

"Wow, how weird." Reese laughed half heartedly. "So, um…what if you were originally…a bug or whatever? And you died? What happened then?"

"Hm…" his mom put a finger on her lips as she thought. "I…don't know." She said at length. "I suppose they thought everything was human. That's why they wouldn't eat any meat you know!" she added, getting all revved up again. "Cows were sacred animals. If they saw you eating one of your chilidogs, they'd accuse you of murder!"

Reese was about to laugh half heartedly again, when the doorbell rang.

"Now who could that be?" asked his mother, looking perplexed. Reese followed her to the door, also feeling curious.

Mrs. Hacker opened the door.

"Hello." Said the blond boy, with a mixture of shyness and cheerfulness, "is it okay if I come over for a while?"

Mrs. Hacker was about to open her mouth and ask this young man politely who he was, when Reese barged past her and cried "What are you doing here?"

The boy in the blue hoodie looked down and scuffed the toe of his shoe on the pavement. "I know I should've called-" he began, sounding disappointed.

"No! Come on in!" Reese said, practically dragging him inside, "we'd love to have you over! Right Mom?"

"Right." Agreed the bemused mother, watching her son drag the stranger in like he was afraid he would disappear once Reese turned his back(not knowing that Tails had a habit of doing just that.)

Reese pulled him into the living room and then stopped, realizing he had no idea what he wanted to do next.

"So, um…what do you want to do?" he asked.

The boy shrugged as Mrs. Hacker re-entered the room.

"So, what's your friend's name Reese?"

"Tails." Reese answered automatically, then realized what he'd said.

Luckily, his mother was now focused on the visitor. "Oh, what a cute name! Is it your real name or a nickname?"

"Nickname." Tails admitted, looking just a tiny bit over whelmed.

"What's your real name then?"

Tails shot Reese a glance out of the corner of his eye, begging for help.

Reese thought quickly. His mother had been a history major…if anyone would realize the implications of the name "Miles Prower" she would…his glance landed on the bookshelf. "Arthur." He said, spur of the moment. "Arthur Moore."

Tails shot him a glance, but Mrs. Hacker didn't notice. "That's a nice name. I don't happen to know your parents, do I?"

_Probably not, seeing as they've been dead for one hundred years._ Reese thought, then felt bad for flippantly speaking of the dead.

"Probably not." Tails unknowingly echoed, smiling. "They…we just moved here recently."

"And how do you like the area?"

"Oh, it's nice."

Now Reese was just getting annoyed. _He came here to do things with me, not talk with my mom, right?_ He thought, tapping his foot impatiently. _So what can we do? Right now, I just want to talk, but if I say that, Mom will think something's up…which is true…oh yeah!_ He snapped his fingers. _On the few times when Tim and John came over, we played video games. So I'll just invite him to my room and begin, and we'll talk as we play. Now that's a cool idea!_

The sound of the door opening drew everyone's attention.

Mr. Hacker hurried through the door. "Hello!" he said, pulling off hat and jacket, not looking at them. "Turn on the TV, history is happening as we-" at that point, both off, he turned around to face them, and noticed Tails. "Who's this?" he asked curiously.

"Hello sir, my name is tails. I'm a friend of Reese's." as Tails was talking, Mr. Hacker strode over to the TV and switched it on and muted it, and changed the channel to what seemed to be a news broadcast of some sort.

Then he sat down on the couch and motioned everyone over and un-muted it.

Mrs. Hacker sat next to him, while Reese and Tails stood to the next to each other, behind the couch.

"Is your dad often like this?" Tails whispered hesitantly. Reese shook his head and turned his attention to the TV.

It showed some sort of shuttle.

"Isn't that the shuttle that went up last week?" Mrs. Hacker asked her husband, but Tails answered, "If you mean the one that went up to the Ark, ma'am, you're right."

Reese looked at him. Tails noticed and smiled. "If you keep watching, you'll see someone familiar."

Reese looked back at the TV. There was a pretty girl getting off the shuttle right then. She was older than Reese, with shoulder length blond hair. She looked somewhat familiar…but the feeling was vague, and Reese wouldn't swear to it. And then, practically following on the girl's heels, was a very familiar figure.

Reese stared in disbelief. His mother gasped. The crowd on the TV was silent for a moment, then, as Shadow followed the girl down the steps, and the crowd broke out into mutterings.

And this point, the news people started talking again. "While both Maria Roberts and Shadow himself have been unavailable for comment, we did hear a rumor that this man," and here a man in hand cuffs walked off the shuttle, followed by two police officers. "Attempted to sexually harass Roberts. According to rumor, Shadow came to her defense."

Reese raised an eyebrow. "If that's true, I'm surprised he's still alive."

"Maria probably intervened on his behalf." Tails said.

Mr. Hacker frowned up at him. "What makes you say that?"

"I met her once." Tails explained, "We didn't talk very long, but she seemed to be a very kind person."

"And of course," Reese added, "Shadow has a soft spot for blond haired girls named Maria."

Tails grinned.

Mr. Hacker frowned. "I don't understand."

"He means Maria Robotnik dear." Mrs. Hacker explained. "Although Reese, I'm surprised you know that."

Reese shrugged, embarrassed. "You probably mentioned it and I just remembered." He frowned. "Or maybe I heard it in school. I can't really remember." Then he attempted to shrug it off, literally, and smiled, and only Tails could see the trace of weakness about it. "Doesn't really matter though, does it?"

"No." Mr. Hacker agreed, turning back to the TV.

"Not really." Mrs. Hacker added, also turning back.

The TV was now confirming the fact that the man, Richard Tyndale, had indeed tried to rape Maria Roberts, and would be going to court sometime later that month.

Tails however, was more focused on Reese. He was staring into space, hands gripping the couch tightly, as if to reassure him that it was really truly there, and that he was really standing in his living room.

It took a moment, and a lot of courage, but Tails reached out a hand and gently clasped his shoulder. He hoped it was a manly gesture, strong and confident, but at the same time, reassuring.

Reese looked at him, surprised, then grinned cockily, and copied the gesture, just a bit less gently.

When they turned back to the TV they were talking about something else, something boring.

"Hey Mom? Dad? I'm going to show Tails upstairs and we're going to platy a couple of video games, okay?"

"Okay." Said Mrs. Hacker.

"Wait a minute boys." Said Mr. Hacker getting up from the couch, "I have something you guys will like. Now let's see where did I put it?" he walked towards a stack of boxes in the corner and began going through them. After the first two minutes, Reese began tapping his foot. Tails looked at Reese tapping his foot and began to grin. Reese looked at the grin, gave that embarrassed shrug of his, and stood still. And then started tapping his foot again.

"Found it!" came his father's triumphant cry. He stood up, grasping a small thin box in his hand.

Apparently, Mrs. Hacker recognized it, because she sighed. "Dear, I thought you said you were going to throw that out?" she said in a half amused, half annoyed tone.

Mr. Hacker grinned sheepishly. "I was planning to, but then I thought, hey, it still works great, why not give it to someone who will use it." As he said this, he handed it to Reese, who studied it curiously.

"Sonic…Riders?" he read out loud. It appeared to be a game box. The cover showed Sonic, grinning his trademark cocky grin while on some sort of board. It looked almost like a surfboard, but they were on some sort of track, no kind of water any where to be seen. Behind him was some sort of parrot, staring at Sonic. Beneath them both, were Tails and Knuckles, and two other birds he didn't recognize.

"A racing game?" Tails asked, looking over Reese's shoulder.

"Yup." Mr. Hacker said. "If I remember correctly, the plot isn't very good, and sometimes the game play could be a bit annoying, but for the most part, it was fun. Go try it."

"Alright, thanks Dad." Reese said. He headed up the stairs, quickly followed by Tails.

The first room on the right was his, and he entered with a bang, shoving the door out of the way so that it collided with the wall. Tails grabbed it on it's rebound and shut it firmly but quietly.

When he had turned around to face Reese, he was on his knees, inserting the Sonic Riders disk into the game station. He turned it on and raised the volume a couple notches.

"Isn't that kinda loud?" Tails asked, eyebrow raised.

"Kinda." Reese admitted, sitting back. "But I don't want to be overheard."

Tails's expression softened. "Don't want your parents to find out, huh?" he asked as he sat down next to him.

Reese stared vacantly at the screen as the opening scene began to play. "No." he admitted quietly. "I mean, it'll be hard enough explaining to Amy tomorrow, and she's part of it too!"

Tails nodded sympathically, and then looked down.

"Don't start apologizing." Reese said. He turned and smiled.

After a moment, Tails looked up at him, and then returned the smile.

Both boys turned their attention back to the screen. A moment later, Tails's eyebrow was up and quirking again. "A rainbow colored waterfall?"

"It looks like a Skittles commercial." Reese said, and then snickered.

Tails grinned as he watched Sonic basically break dance on his board, then got annoyed as he watched himself get knocked off his board. "I don't think I'm that oblivious to what goes on around me, especially during a race."

Reese nodded as they watched Sonic turn around and come back for Tails, pulled him up and gave him a thumbs up.

"Well, it's good that they got the rescue right at least." Tails said, slightly appeased.

"What?"

"Well, if I had fallen that is how he would have rescued me." Tails chuckled. "He loved to give people thumbs up."

Reese remembered earlier, about to run to the car, and trying to find a way to say goodbye to Amy, he had…

"So which do you want to do?" Tails asked, "Story or regular?"

"Huh?" Reese looked at the screen. "…let's try regular. Dad said the plot was kinda stupid anyway."

As Reese set up the race, Tails grabbed a controller. Now the screen showed all the characters they had to choose from. Tails quickly chose himself, while Reese stared at the screen.

_Let's see…who do I want to be? Knuckles? Nah…he's cool, but I don't feel like playing as him. The same with Amy, besides, if Shadow finds out about that, I'll never hear the end of it! One of the three stupid bird brains? Defiantly not! They tried to hurt tails. Not Rouge, not one of the robots… (Who would want to play as a robot?). Shadow? _Briefly, Reese grinned. _I could make him get last place in every single race! Then again, it wouldn't really be fair. Especially to Tails. Maybe some time when I'm bored and on my own…but that still leaves the question…who will I use?_ Slowly, he looked at the last remaining character on the screen. Sonic grinned cockily at him, and slowly, Reese found himself responding. _Why not? We both like to run after all. And we probably both felt the desire to pummel those bird brains for daring to try to attack Tails. _

Reese selected Sonic. As the race began, he noticed Tails grinning, with a trace of sadness about it. But then the race began, and his expression, turned to playful and determined.

The two boys looked at each other, grinned, and started the race.

There wasn't very much talking after that. There was a lot of laughing, most from Reese going too fast and crashing into things, or Reese going too fast and falling off things. Tails seemed to have a better grasp of the overall game mechanics, but Reese was a quick learner, and had managed to win at least half of their races.

Before supper came however, both of them were a bit tired of it. So they shut it off and looked at each other.

"What do you want to do now?" Reese asked Tails.

The disguised Anthro shrugged.

There was silence for a moment, and then Reese asked another question. "Are you going to stay for supper?"

Tails looked up at him. "Would your parents mind?"

Reese shook his head. "Nah. They probably expect it actually."

Tails smiled. "Okay. I'll stay then. But I should probably leave afterwards."

"I guess." Reese said unenthusiastically. "Since my parents just met you and all."

At that moment, Mrs. Hacker knocked at the door and asked if Tails was staying for supper. Tails shyly responded with "Yes, if you don't mind." She just beamed at him and said it was a pleasure. When she bustled off to complete the last preparations, the boys were once again left alone.

Reese was trying to figure which question to ask, and how to ask it. Maybe Tails noticed, and maybe that's why he asked the question when he did.

"Hey Reese? Can I ask a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, it's not for me…it's for Shadow." Reese made a face, but said nothing. Tails was silent for a moment then grinned sheepishly at Reese. "He needs a place to stay. Just for a little while."

Reese looked at him, rolled his eyes, and lay back on the floor. After a moment, he asked "And why can't he stay with Maria?"

"Because it will look suspious to the courts."

Reese rolled his eyes again, but sat up, and looked thoughtful. Finally, he spoke. "Well…it's okay with me. But I'm not sure how we're going to convince my parents."

Now it was Tails's turn to lie on his back and sigh. "Well, let's tell them as much of the truth as we can…"

"Hey Tails? Is he gonna show up like you? Or like he was on the plane earlier?"

Tails stared at the ceiling a couple moments, then sat up straight and stared at Reese like he'd grown a second head. "I didn't think of that." He said slowly. "I mean, I might. I don't know. I could try…"

"It would certainly make our job easier." Reese said as Tails stared into space, thinking. "They won't hate him just because he's an Anthro or anything, but his past isn't exactly spotless."

Tails nodded glumly. "And of course, we can't ask them until we know…hey!" he brightened. "Think it will help if I come too? Make it a kind of sleepover?"

Reese thought for a moment, then grinned.

------------------------------------

Two days later, the doorbell rang again.

This time Reese was expecting them. He jumped from the couch in which he was waiting and ran to the door.

"Hi!" greeted Tails, smiling.

The black haired boy next to him shrugged a greeting.

Reese rolled his eyes and then said, "Come on in."

"Where do I park my motorcycle?"

For the first time, Reese noticed it. Rather small, but black and powerful looking, it was only missing one thing.

"Where's the helmet?" Reese asked.

Shadow smirked. "The ultimate life form doesn't need a helmet."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Last line is love.

And poor Ethan only got a cameo in the very beginning.


	9. Chapter 9

(The short chapter)

Ethan woke up suddenly. Falling off the bed can do that to you. He sat on the floor for a moment, blinking.

_Well, that's new._ He thought, pushing himself off the floor and towards the bathroom, _what was I dreaming about?_

He paused in the middle of the doorway. It was vague, but…there had been a gem. To be specific, a giant emerald. In the dream, he had circled it, knowing its every feature; its every facet, the exact way it twinkled in the light. Still, he circled it, double checking, carefully making sure that it was the same, undamaged.

At last, he stood back and sighed, relieved. It was still undamaged.

As he looked on, something caught his eye. It was his reflection, in one of the larger facets of the emerald. In the dream, he had only noticed it in a vague, bored sort of way. As if it had been perfectly normal.

Right now, though, still standing in the doorway, he felt chills running up and down his spine. Admittedly, the emerald was not straight, and therefore was not a reliable mirror, but still…he didn't think a reflection could be distorted that much. Made to look taller, shorter, wider, skinner than a person actually was, that made sense. But made to look not like a person at all? That couldn't be possible. And something about the face he'd seen reflected back at him…something about those purple eyes sent bells ringing in his head.

Ethan shook his head and walked into the bathroom. _Get a hold of yourself Strong! _He told himself as he grabbed a hairbrush and viciously attacked his hair with it while occasionally checking in the mirror to make sure that his eyes were still brown, not the disturbingly familiar shade of purple he'd seen in the Master Emerald. 

It took him a total of five minites to realize what he'd thought. When he did, he froze, staring into the mirror as if it had the answers._Where did that come from?_ He asked himself, dropping the brush on the counter and gripping the sides of the sink. _Where-okay Ethan, calm down._ He took a deep breath._ It's just a dream. No need to get worked up about a dream. And hey-things in dreams can have names, right? You just remembered the name subconcsily, and didn't bother to remember the part where you learned the name! _He forced himself to smile at the mirror, and pick up his brush again.

But the sense of unease stayed with him, and was still hovering around as close as it could get to the front of his mind when he sat down for breakfast. 

"Hi Dad." He said to the man already sitting at the table.

He nodded absentmindedly, and handed his son a piece of toast. 

Ethan rolled his eyes but accepted it. "Any new developments?"

Mr. Strong nodded. "Yeah, the stupid gem thief has stroke again. This time he's snatched another one that's rumored to be a chaos emerald."

Ethan lifted an eyebrow. "So three out of five gems is a rumored chaos emerald?"

Mr. Strong nodded. 

"Do you think they'll come here next?" 

For the first time, his father looked up at him, frowning. "What do you mean, son?"

"Well, it seems like they're going after chaos emeralds, right?"

"Suspected ones." Mr. Strong corrected, but he was listening.

"Well, there's one at the museum up town." Ethan pointed out.

His father blinked, and then pounded the table. "Of course! I'd forgotten about that! Now let's see…his usual MO is…"

Ethan watched as his father began going through the papers and began planning out loud.

It was hard sometimes, having a cop for a father.

Ethan was still thinking this as he walked out of the door, on his way to school. The only other thing he had had remotely resembling a conversation with his father had been the exchange of goodbyes as he prepared to leave for school. 

He sighed, then shrugged and walked down the driveway. It didn't matter how he felt. That was the way things were, and he had to deal with it. Even as he thought this, he felt a spark of rebellion. Shouldn't it matter how he felt?

And then, just as he was thinking these things, he turned a corner, and ran start into someone.

Thunk!

Heads collided, and both fell to the ground, clutching their heads.

Ethan had already been in rather a foul mood, so once his head stopped feeling like it was going to explode, he snapped "Watch where you're going!"

As he said this, he moved his hand so that instead of holding his head, he was holding back his long bangs, so he could see who it was he'd run into. 

It was a boy, his age, with long, shoulder length blond hair, and green eyes. He didn't look very pleased either. "Look whose talking!" he retorted, "at least I don't walk around with my eyes glued to the ground!"

_Okay, now he's really asking for it!_ Both he and the other boy jumped to their feet, glaring at each other.

But before they could do or say anything further, two other boys rounded the corner. 

One was eating a candy bar with great gusto. He had short, messy blond hair and bright blue eyes.

The other had long black hair that stopped just short of being waist length, with three red stripes through it. He also had red eyes.

Both stopped and looked from first one boy to the other.

Ethan tried to relax. _Okay, Strong, calm down. You don't want to get into a fight with this boy…you just want to punch his lights out…now don't focus your imagination on that…you just want to put a crack in them. _

The two boys had finished looking around, and suddenly the blond boy, who was smaller, and probably, Ethan thought, younger than him and the others, started laughing. "Are you guys fighting _again_?" He asked.

"Again?" they both said at the same time, and then returned to glaring at each other. 

But now that he was looking, Ethan thought that he did seem familiar…that other blond kid too…and something about that blacked haired kid, and that annoying smirk of his seemed familiar too. 

He noticed the first kid was studying him back. As they stared at each other. Each trying to get the measure of the other, the small blond haired boy walked closer and smiled up at Ethan. "So how've you been lately?"

Ethan was surprised. He'd thought that the boy had seemed familiar, but he hadn't expected-wait. Just wait. "Aren't you the one who was following me around the other day?" 

He grinned sheepishly. "Only or a few minutes. I just wanted to see something."

"Did you see it?" Ethan asked, arms crossed across his chest.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"The proof that you are the person I thought you were." At Ethan's puzzled look, he went on. "We…me, Reese (he gestured to the taller blond boy with the longer hair), And you used to be really good friends. But then, things happened, and we all got split up."

Ethan tapped his foot thoughtfully. It made sense…sort of. But why-and then he glanced at Reese. He had a look. Like a light bulb had been turned on, suddenly he understood. 

Ethan looked back at the other blond kid. 

He was grinning up at him. Sheepish, just a little bit nervous,…waiting expectant.

Ethan sighed. There was more to the story than them just "getting separated". He was sure of that much. But something about these guys, even that weird black-haired one, something about them made him want to trust them. They weren't just familiar. More and more, the feeling was growing that he knew them, like their names were just on the tip of his tongue. But there they remained.

Suddenly, Ethan grinned. _My very own mystery…complete with annoying suspects._ He glanced at Reese.

"Alright." Ethan smirked and folded his arms again. "Since I, obviously, can't remember you guys, why don't you all re-introduce yourselves?" 

Reese groaned, "Okay, whatever, but can we keep moving?"

The others stared at him.

Reese shifted from foot to foot nervously. "Okay, look, I just want to make sure I'm not late."

"Really?" It was the black haired kid speaking now, for the first time.

Reese blushed. 

Ethan, who had been watching until now with unabashed amusement, suddenly smirked. "You wouldn't happen to have met Amy rose have you?"

Reese gaped at him. "How did you know?"

Ethan's expression became even more gleeful. "Because" he said, speaking slowing, savoring the words, "she's my next door neighbor, and oh, look here she comes!"

The other three boys turned just in time to see Amy skid a halt in front of Reese. 

"Reese!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" 

"I was walking to school, when I ran into _him_." Reese gestured towards Ethan, who took a mock bow.

"Good morning Amy." He said.

"Good morning Ethan."

"Hi Amy!" chirped the smaller blond.

She turned towards him with a smile. "Hi Tails!" she said, and he grinned even wider. "I haven't seen you for a while. Been busy?"

He nodded, looking a little bit guilty.

And then Amy turned towards the last boy. She frowned a bit looking at him, then smiled and stepped closer. "Excuse me," she said, "are you…someone I've met before?"

"Yes." He said simply. He was looking down at her with an expression mixed of amusement and a little bit of sadness.

"Could you remind me who you are?" Amy asked.

"He's just a sulky emo hedg-boy. He's our friend." Reese interrupted. 

"And you're an annoying blue motor mouth." He said without missing a beat.

"Did you spend all night coming up with that insult?"

"No, I spent it listening to you snoring. And muttering. Were you dreaming about …someone?" he empisized the last word, smiling. 

"No, I didn't have any dreams last night." Reese protested.

But it seemed like the other boy wasn't hearing him, because his head was cocked to the side, listening. After a moment, he said "A bell's ringing. What does that mean?"

"We're late for school!" and all three who actually went to school were sprinting towards it.

"Do you think we can make it?"

"It's not that far!"

Shadow and Tails just looked at each other, then followed them, running to catch up. 

------------------------------

Okay...not a very good chapter. But it IS an update. 

Now I'll go work on chapter ten and try revise it while fending off/trying to plot out the Pumpkin Scissors and Meet the Robinsons plotbunnys that are trying eat my brain...


	10. Chapter 10

Nwchap10

Reese tapped his pencil._ Okay…I know what I want to say…err, I mean I know what I think. And it makes sense, or at least more sense than any other ideas. And in light of Tails's explanation to them, it still makes sense…I am so glad I don't have to explain to Ethan too._

_Amy is one thing. It might be.. A bit awkward, but I know she'll listen. Whether or not she'll actually believe me though….well, I guess it depends on how convincing I make my case._

The bell rang, and Reese felt like banging his head against the desk when he realized that he still had absolutely no idea what to say. And almost as bad, he had no idea of what the teacher had said…throughout the entire class period!

In the six minutes Reese took to think about and toss the ideas of running away from home and then the idea of playing sick, someone snuck up on him. "So we meet again."

Reese jumped about five feet in the air. He landed, however, to Ethan's laughing

"I knew I could walk quietly, but man! You must have been really out of it!"

Reese glared at him.

Ethan smirked. "Were you thinking about Amy?"

Rees growled. "Why does everyone keep harping on that? Especially you!"

Ethan shrugged. "Personally, I can't see what you're complaining about. She's pretty, she's caring, she's a good cook…why are you so insistent that you don't like her?"

Reese wondered for a moment if he could've heard something other than curiosity in Ethan's voice, before brushing the thought away. No, there was no way Ethan could be jealous…right?

Reese shrugged. "I just am, okay? Now, will you go away ? I'm supposed to meet Amy here."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Why? If you're not interested-"

"No, that's not it." Reese said, rolling his eyes, "we just…want to talk. About things…that have been going on lately."

"Things like what?"

"Like freaky dreams and mysterious friends." It was said shortly, but it started Ethan thinking.

A reflection in the emerald that was not his own… The strange feeling he felt where he met them…

He smiled.

Just then, Amy ran up. "Hey guys! Reese, are you ready?"

_No_. "Yes." _But I'm willing to try anyways._

"Hey Ethan, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I've joined this little club."

"It's not a club! You can't just join it!"

"Why not?"

Amy looked from one to the other in amusement. Finally, though, it got old. "Guys?" No response, so she tried again. "Hey guys!" delivered louder, "didn't we come here for a reason?"

Both turned, somewhat surprised.

She stood there, taping her foot and looking reproachfully at them. Amy sighed, seeing that she finally had both their attention. "Ethan, you've had dreams that are really weird, right?"

Almost unwillingly, he nods.

"And you feel that you've met Tails before?"

Ethan nodded again.

Reese sighed. "Actually, Tails said that much."

Amy looked delighted. "Another clue. Does it support your theory, Reese?"

Now it was his turn to nod unwillingly. He began explaining to Amy, "A long time ago, there was this one belief on Earth. And it was that if you died, you would be reborn, but not necessarily as what you were before…"

"I think he's doing a pretty good job." said Tails. "Better than when they first met, anyways."

Shadow raised his eyebrow, and switched his gaze to from the trio of students to the kitsune in the tree. " What happened?"

"The lord of lard told him that we were evil thieves and he believed him."

"No wonder he used to call him a knucklehead."

"That, and it was just way too easy."

There was brief silence for a moment, and both Anthros turned from each other to watch the students once more. Reese was finished talking, hands shoved in his pockets as he stared glumly downwards.

Amy was staring at him, open mouthed, as Ethan paced.

There was silence.

"Things can't stay this way." Shadow said suddenly.

Startled, Tails turned towards him. Shadow was gripping the branch above him, tightly, and it was quivering as if it would snap.

"We can't stay with them…we can't stay here. Eventually, it'll all happen all over again. We can't… we can't protect them from everything!" the branch snapped. And he wobbled for just a minute before he grabbed the branch beneath him as he watched the pieces of the broken one fall to the ground…because sometimes, you have to let go, or you'll fall, and break yourself.

Carefully, slowly, Tails crawled over from his branch to Shadow's, and then, repeating what he'd done days before with Reese, put his hand lightly, on his shoulder.

"We can protect them from everything except old age. And that probably shouldn't be messed with anyway."

Shadow didn't say anything. He didn't move either, but, and it was hard for Tails to be certain, since he had his gloves on, but he felt, and he could be wrong, he thought he felt Shadow relax.

Below them, in the school building, Amy was stepping forward, and holding Reese's hand. She was speaking, and smiling.

Now Ethan was stepping forward, also smiling, although his had a bit of a smirk to it. When he finished speaking, he and Reese shook hands.

"Maybe we can't protect them from everything...but we can help."

And then came time for the trial.

Shadow was both surprised and somewhat disgusted. He had assumed it would be a fairly simple affair, just proving that Maria hadn't done anything wrong. As far as Shadow was concerned, that was obvious from just having one conversation with her, but hey, if they wanted more evidence he'd give it to them_…that's what I'm here for, after all…to help her…to protect her…to stay by her side._

_For as long as possible._

As everyone walks in and takes their seats, I watch Maria and glower at the lawyer who sits next to her. I want that seat, and I want to walk with her into the room, let all of them know that she is protected by me.

She's nervous. I know she is, even though she's trying to hide it. The way she walks, the way she hides her face, lower, with the files and folders she carries, the way she looks around…I can tell.

I'm nervous as well, for two reasons. She is, and I have no idea what's going on.

I think it's going well. It's rather hard to tell, with the way that some of them talk, but I think it's going well.

When Maria's lawyer told them what Richard tried to do, there were angry mummers from the people watching.

Soon after, when I was called to the stand, and I swore to them that he had attempted to rape( I know what that means now, and I'm angrier than ever about it.), and that the only reason I'd shot at him was to save her, there were more murmurs, and these sounded even angrier.

Richard's lawyer attempted to ask me some weird questions…I don't know what the point was, but I answered negative to all of them. He even asked what kind of an outfit she was wearing. What kind of stupid question is that? It shouldn't make any difference what she was doing or wearing, or whatever. What he did was still wrong.

But maybe they don't look at it this way?

He's protecting me. Again. Always, always, protecting me…I'm sitting in the courtroom, wanting to shiver, but not daring. I want to turn around and look at him, but I can't. I wish he could sit next to me, but he can't.

I am so powerless… I want to do something for him, anything for him, but…anything just a small thing, just the right word at the right time, a small meaningless gift that makes him smile…or laugh.

The best I've felt throughout this entire ordeal is when he was up on the stand.

He surveyed the entire courtroom, judge and jury included, not as if they were below him, but as if he'd…judged them, their strengths and weaknesses, and found that he was the strongest, the dominating one. He was confident. He knew what he knew, and he knew what he'd seen.

And that, added to the fact that just seeing a face that I knew and …loved…a face that I knew was on my side…it helped me.

Just knowing that Shadow had my back, I could hold my head up, even though I couldn't stop trembling completely.

And after that, I began to get a littler bit angry. It seemed like they were trying to make me think I was guilty.

I don't know exactly what made me feel that way. Maybe it was just the way they looked at me…like I was scum on the surface of a pond, which had to be cleared away. Maybe it was the whispering that never seemed to cease. Maybe it was the sheer size of the room, which seemed designed to impress the smallness of the occupents upon them. Whatever it was, I felt it clearly, and it began to make me mad.

What had I done that I was standing here, in front of them? I had done nothing. I was innocent.

I was here for one reason only. Because Richard was not innocent, and I was here to prove that fact. And Shadow, his eyes upon me always, was here to help.

Because of that, when it was my turn, I was able to stand tall and speak clearly.

I could never be forceful or aggressive, but I was able to tell them, all of them, what had happened.

And then, at the end, they declared that Richard was indeed guilty of all that Shadow and I had told them of.

And because of the other girls, they also believed that that this was not the first time he had tried to do something like this. But they decided it would be the last.

He was sentenced to death.

He didn't take it very well. He jumped out of his chair to try to get to me, but the officers grabbed him and held him down…

Those guards were pretty quick for humans; I had just jumped out of my seat when they jumped him. Too bad they couldn't get him to be quiet as well. He screamed at her, most of the words I couldn't understand, but I knew they were bad, from the way the mutterings around me rose again, louder, and from the way Maria flinched.

I almost started down the aisle to get go get him and make him shut up, when she took a deep breath and started towards him.

Everything stopped, everyone was shocked. Even Richard stopped cursing and stared at her as she stopped in front of him, and knelt to whisper something in his ear.

What did she say?

I don't know. And maybe…it might not be any of my business. But at that moment, I felt a little bit jealous of Richard, lying on his stomach, looking up at her, on his knees, to her, right now, he is the focus, the focal point.

For just a moment, I wondered why she had to be like that…with everyone. But then, watching her as she walked away, I had to smile.

Why was she like that? Because is she wasn't, she wouldn't be Maria. It was just part of who she was.

And Maria was not a problem…but there was a problem. I frowned as the crowd stood up and followed her out. I tried to weave through the crowd, but morons kept not noticing me and tripping over me.

The problem was this world.

Later, at the Hacker's table, they were talking about it.

"I'm so glad that at least one more of those monsters is off the streets." Beamed Mrs. Hacker. "No girl should have to go through what he tried to do to that poor girl. I'm so glad Shadow rescued her!"

"I'm sure that they're both happy about too, Mom." Reese said, just before taking a huge bite of the meatloaf. I watched him in secret amusement and wonder. How did he take such large bites?

His father raised an eyebrow. "Would either of you two like to explain the comment to the person who is not a history bluff?"

Reese in turn, raised his eyebrow at the last word. (Although, I was pleased to notice that his raised eyebrow was no where near as impressive as mine.)

"Means history expert." Mrs. Hacker explained. "And I believe what Reese means is that, for a very long time, Maria Robotnik has haunted Shadow. Now, perhaps some of that guilt and anger has been lifted by Maria Roberts."

She is smart. Kinda of surprising, considering who she has as a son. I glance at him, out of the corner of eye, and he smirks at me. I twitch. He's probably enjoying this…dissecting me with his parents in front of me.

But he, at least, will not smear my name and hers. I can't trust him not to annoy me, but I can trust him with the most important things.

"You've got a point there ma'am." I say, keeping myself from smiling by taking a bite of meatloaf.

She smiles at me. "I'm glad you think so, Sirius!" she says, using me by the alias the silly motor mouth came up with. Honestly, what kind of a name is Sirius Black? I suppose I'm lucky though…he could've told them my name was Emo Hog, or something equally dumb.

And later, as I entered my room, the room I was sharing with Shadow, I stopped.

He was kneeling in front of the window, staring out it.

"I thought she lived on the other side of town?" I asked, trying to get that depressing look off his face.

He didn't even turn to look at me.

After I got tired of waiting (and I did wait longer then I would usually), I gave up and plopped down next to him, and just stared out the window with him.

It was a little bit boring, just staring out the window and doing nothing… but hey, I couldn't leave him by himself in that kinda mood. And if I stayed with him, maybe he'd talk to me. That'd be good for two reasons. One, if something's bugging one of my friends, I'd like to know. Second, if people talk about what's bothering them, it makes them feel better (according to Mom, anyways).

Sure enough, after a while, he began to talk.

"This world is the problem."

"What?"

"I hated it…there we were, so close and yet so far... I hate that place…I can't protect her there."

I stared ahead, through the window. Should've known that's what he was worried about.

But now…what do I tell him?

He's right…it is hard to protect someone in this world. But… "It's not impossible." I tell him, speaking out loud. "It'll be a real pain in the neck, and it may seem impossible, but it's not. And besides…" I turn and grin at him. "The reward is worth it, right?"

He stares at me, and then laughs. "I never thought I'd hear mature advice from you." He stares out the window for a moment, then smirks and stands up. "Well, I guess I'll keep trying then."

He doesn't say thank you. But that's okay. I didn't expect him too, and besides, it probably dents his pride just to listen to my advice, let alone take it.

Standing in the moonlight, he smirks down at me.

I laugh and stand to face him.

Me and Shadow…good friends, best rivals.


End file.
